Life in Vein
by alphafemale7335
Summary: Kouga meets an intriguing girl, but what trouble will her past bring him? Mafia? T-Virus? You have to read to find out. KouOC
1. Dances With Wolves

Disclaimer: This goes for the whole first part 'cause I ain't writing this for every chapter, I don't own any InuYasha characters, nor do I claim to. You should have known this anyway. I hate disclaimers...

**Life in Vein**

**Part One: A Past Best Forgotten**

Chapter One

Dances With Wolves

Naomi couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for hours before actually admitting it to herself, though. At one in the morning, she sat up in bed, dreary-eyed, and whispered to herself, "I can't sleep." She shoved off the covers and walked out of her room, making her way down to the kitchen down the dark hallway. As quietly as she could, she found a flashlight and went out of the house for a walk, thinking it might help her sleep.

Down the driveway and into the street, she walked for a total of five minutes before she got too cold and had to head back. As she was walking up the driveway, however, she heard a faint sound. It intrigued her, and she instantly forgot she was so cold.

It sounded like it was coming from the field on the back of the property. She headed for it, the sound steadily getting louder as she progressed. Half way there, she could tell it was a cry for help. It sounded almost like a wolf cub. Yes, that's what it was. A baby wolf. It had to be. But what was the cause for its cry for help, and where did it come from? There were no wolves in the state. She increased her pace, worried for the wolf. In her hurry however, she failed to see a root and tripped, dropping the flashlight. She cursed herself for her clumsiness, and picked up the flashlight.

Now, she realized, hitting the ground, the bulb in the flashlight broke. She could hear the little shards rattling around. She cursed herself again and got up, determined to help the wolf cub, whatever its problem was. She could see the field, and the well in the middle where she always had to get water for her mother. Fear ran through her as she realized the wolf probably fell down the well and she took of at a run towards the well.

"Little wolf?!" Naomi called, concerned. Of course, the only answer she got was another little whiney yip. She reached the well and tried to peer down to see him, but it was too dark. Even in the daylight it was hard to see the bottom. Instead of trying to spot it, she called to it again. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Again, its now quite repetitive yip, came to Naomi's ears. He was definitely in the well, but its poor whining troubled her. What happened? How did it get down there?

She tried once more, "Are you okay?" Suddenly, the yipping stopped and her heart just about skipped a beat.

That's it, she thought. I'm going down there.

Naomi threw a leg over the edge of the well and called to the wolf, "I'm coming down." However, before she could even get her other leg over the edge, she could see something fly up, even in the darkness, and wrap around her waist. Before she could even call help, herself, it pulled her down, so scared she passed out.

The sun was shining brightly upon Naomi's face when she woke up. Still disoriented from sleep, she recalled the wolf cub's call for help and her fall. It must have been a bad dream, she thought to herself, sitting up, but as she realized she was waking up on the cold ground, she knew it hadn't been a dream.

At first, she was afraid of the thing that had wrapped around her and pulled her down, and then for the wolf, but then she was more afraid that she would end up like the wolf, unable to get out of the well. She looked up to the sky at the opening of the well. It was a crystal clear day, she noticed, but she also noticed something else. The well wasn't as deep as she thought it to be. In fact, it was quite shallow. And there were roots all over the edges of the well. She hadn't noticed them before, but was glad they were there. She would be able to get out of the well after all.

Naomi stood up, her head spinning from the fall. She lost her balance for only a second when she caught a hold of the wall for support. Taking a few deep breaths, she searched for a thick root, one that looked like it would support her weight. She found one and grabbed it, now happy she had taken those rock climbing classes. She began climbing out, slowly but surely. However, once she had gotten a little over half way out, she heard the root beginning to tear. As a last attempt not to fall, she tried to scramble up the root faster, but only succeeded in snapping the root. She fell down to the bottom once more, landing on her feet, but loosing her balance and falling to her knees. She cursed the luck she was having, swallowed her pride and resorted to calling for help.

Kouga ran out to the cliff facing the Bird of Paradise's nest. He was looking for the one that possessed a Jewel Shard. Suddenly, the wind picked up from the west. He picked up a scent. It was that of a female's with a hint of flowers and fruit. The scent aroused him and he was instantly intrigued. He had to find this girl. He set off to the west.

Ten minutes went by with her constantly calling 'help' before anyone came. "Hello? Is someone down there?" the voice beckoned. He peered down the well and Naomi could make out a shadow of his upper body. He had long hair, tied back in a ponytail, broad, strong shoulders, and a deep voice, but that was all she could tell about him.

"I'm here," she called. "I tried to climb out, but the root broke." She hesitated. "I...need some help."

"Okay. I'm coming down," he called. For a second he disappeared from view before he flew down. He had jumped. Naomi moved against the wall so she wouldn't get hit. He landed close to her, but was careful not to hit her. "Get on my back," he told her. She did as asked and he leaped to the top of the well and over, letting her off at the top. "Are you okay? What happened?" he asked, looking her over. She was about five-foot-one--about half a foot shorter than he was--and was lean and fit. She had lively green and brown eyes that seemed to make her look more alive. Her long, dark brown hair brought out her face, along with a small scratch on her cheek. Then he focused on the rest of her body, looking for any more injuries. She seemed to be standing on her own just fine, and recalling her grip she had on him when he brought her out of the well, he concluded nothing was broken.

Naomi looked at her rescuer. He was dressed in armor and brown fur. He had pointy ears and...who was this? She looked towards the well, looking for an answer, as if it would tell her what exactly happened, for she was not entirely sure. It was then she noticed her surroundings. Yes, she was still in a field, but there was no clearing after it where her yard began. They were surrounded by a forest. "I--I don't know... Where am I?"

Instead of answering her question, he asked her one of his own. "Did you hit your head when you fell? You're in InuYasha's Forest. Although, why you would want to be here is beyond me."

"InuYasha's Forest?" she pondered. She had never heard of it before.

"You're coming with me. I think you've got amnesia," he said, taking her in his arms, honeymoon-style. He took off towards his den, excited just wondering what it would be like to take care of her.

"Do you remember your name?" he asked on the way there.

"I don't have amnesia. My name is Naomi, and as stupid as this sounds, I don't think I'm from around here."

He paused, thinking. "Actually, I think I know exactly what you're talking about. A girl came here not too long ago from five-hundred years in the future from that very well, or so I've heard."

"So what made you think I had amnesia?"

"She and the hanyou are supposedly the only ones who can pass through it," he explained. "I figured you had fallen in the well and hit your head because you shouldn't be able to pass between times."

The more he spoke, the more confused she got, and the bigger her headache grew. Maybe she did hit her head...Then she realized she didn't know his name. "Okay, I told you my name, so what's yours?"

"I'm Kouga of the Wolf Youkai tribe," he said, reaching a waterfall.

"Why are we here?" Naomi asked.

"This is my den, where I live." He started off toward the waterfall.

"Behind the waterfall?" she asked confused

"Yeah. I guess you can stay here as long as you like. I'll take you when you want to go back to the well, so you don't get killed by some youkai."

"There are youkai here?" she asked in alarm, but then realized it was a stupid question to ask Kouga, a wolf youkai. "Don't answer that," Naomi said, hitting herself on the forehead and immediately regretting it, searing pain rattling her head.

"And you say you didn't hit you're head?" he asked in disbelief

"I never said I didn't hit my head. I simply said I don't have amnesia. Come to think of it, I probably did hit my head. I have a major migraine. Do you have an Aspirin?"

"Aspirin?"

"Never mind."

A bunch of wolves and guys dressed like Kouga were sitting around a waterfall. A man who was dressed something like Kouga was sitting on a ledge by it. He spotted them and called out, "Hey! Kouga's back!"

"Hey, Ginta," Kouga said in return before he leapt into the air a few feet and landed on a ledge. He walked behind the waterfall and into a cave about the size of a fairly small house and a ceiling about fifteen feet high. He walked her over to a bed of grass and let her sit down. A pack of wolf youkai, lead by the one Kouga had called Ginta, followed up behind him.

"Nice looking woman, Kouga," one of them said. "Yeah," said another, "I got dibs on the heart."

"She's off limits. I'll kill anyone who even tries to eat her." The youkai took a step back when Kouga said that. Naomi's heart sped up a bit. "Stay here until I find something for that headache of yours," Kouga said, turning from her. It was then that she noticed he had a tail. She was shocked that she hadn't noticed when she jumped on his back before, but then was more shocked it was even there. What a strange man, Naomi thought to herself. "My god," she muttered under her breath, just low enough so no one would hear her. However the moment it escaped her lips, Kouga turned.

"What did you say?" he asked, not having heard exactly what she said, but knowing she did say something.

"Uh...you have a, uh...tail," she managed to make herself say, afraid he might take offence.

"Yeah?" he said as if he got a lot of attention from it.

"Never mind. Sorry."

"Eh, I didn't put it there, I take no offence," he said, as if he could read her thoughts

Kouga turned back around when he noticed his pack all staring at Naomi. "If you try anything, You'll be regretting it. I'll be back in a little bit." Kouga left the den and Naomi was left with a bunch of wolves and wolf youkai. Most of the youkai had stopped staring, but some were still watching her intently. All of the wolves were looking at her, some hungrily. A shudder ran through her spine. "N--Nice...puppies..." Naomi stuttered as three of the wolves crept close to her. They did look friendlier than the others, but she had never gotten close to a wolf before and it was a bit unnerving. Besides, how did she know these weren't the meanest of the pack? "Don't come any closer..."

One of them defied her words more than the other three and came at a run towards her. Naomi screamed, but it soon turned to laughter as the wolf started licking her face playfully. Now she had everyone's attention, however she was unaware she was being stared at once more. She scratched behind the wolf's ears and the rest of them got jealous of the attention. They all came over and looked at her with sad puppy eyes and nudged at her, begging to be pet. She did her best to pay attention to them all, but there must have been twenty some-odd wolves all around her.

Suddenly, Naomi became aware she was being watched when she heard a few of the wolf youkai laughing. She looked up at them, only realizing what she had figured. "What are you laughing at?" Naomi asked, still trying to pet the wolves. One of them answered between laughing, "You and the wolves!" She realized the whole scene must look pretty funny and started laughing again. The three wolves who had first made an attempt to near her started licking her face and she couldn't take it. "Alright, alright, now. That's enough." Naomi said, standing up so they could no longer reach her face. "You have a bone or something?" she asked one of the youkai staring at her. One of them tossed a bone from some dinner long past and she caught it. "Thanks."

Naomi waved the bone so all the wolves could see it. "See the bone? See the bone?" she asked playfully. She ran from the pack surrounding her, waving the bone behind her, taunting the wolves. "Come get it!" she called and they all started to follow her. She went out of the den but had forgotten how high up she was. Stopping at the ledge, realizing she couldn't just jump without hurting herself, she saw the deep pool the waterfall was creating and swan-dived into it. She surfaced and swam ashore. Once out and soaking wet, she turned to the ledge to see the wolves staring down at her bewildered. "Well," she called to them. "Are you coming or not?" she asked, using a hand to motion them down. One by one, they jumped into the water, swam ashore, and shook themselves off. Once they were all there, she started the game again.

"Come on, now. See the bone?" she shook it in their faces one last time before throwing it as far as she could. "Now, go get it!" She said, pointing to the still flying bone. They all took off after it and Naomi followed, running as fast as she could. The wolves could run pretty fast, but she didn't let that stop her. One of the wolves reached the bone and picked it up in his teeth. Then another one came and grabbed the other half of it and started a tug of war over the bone. Just to add to the fun, Naomi stopped and called to them, "Now bring it back." They started running towards her, neither one of them letting go of the bone. They stopped before her and resumed their fight, trying to be the one to present her with the bone. She took the middle of it and said "drop it," and they both let go at the same time.

She turned back towards the waterfall and threw it again, remembering the fact that there were some unsavory youkai around, and figured it would be best to stay near the den. "Go get it!" she called once more, and they took off for it. She once again followed. This play went on for about a half an hour, until Naomi started to get tired. She started to head back for the den, but then realized, she could probably climb up, but what about the wolves? Who would have a den that high up, anyway?

"Anybody know how to get back up?" she asked the wolves, but then realized it was pointless to ask them. How would they know what she was saying? Then, she got an idea. She moved to an angle where she could see the inside of the den from behind the waterfall. She threw the bone up into the den and called for the last time, "Go get it!" The wolves immediately took off to the right and Naomi followed. She noticed they seemed to be heading for a ledge. Just as she had figured, they all, one by one got on the ledge and headed for the den.

Naomi was the last one to get into the den, as she was much slower than the wolves. The same two who had first got the bone had gotten it and were once again fighting over it. Too tired to care who got it, she headed for the bed of grass, all but the two wolves followed. When she laid down, she realized they were following her. "Oh, come on, guys. I'm tired. No more playing," she said to the ever nearing wolves. However, they simply came and laid near her, and she smiled. One of the two wolves fighting over the bone noticed the rest had left and dropped the bone and started to head over to Naomi. The wolf with the bone in his mouth raised his head high to signify that he was the winner, but when he noticed Naomi wasn't around to see, he dropped the bone and also made his way over to the bed.

Running with the wolves made her tired, and despite the fact that she woke up probably less that two hours ago, Naomi fell asleep, curled up on the bed of grass with the wolves. Some of the youkai still stared at her, wondering how the wolves had taken to her so fast, and the other half just stared at her sleeping form, wishing Kouga had not gotten to her first.


	2. A Permanent Settlement

Chapter Two

A Permanent Settlement

Kouga finally collected the last herb he needed to cure a headache and headed back. He found himself thinking about Naomi, how her short, long, dark brown hair complimented her facial features, her rose red lips, her slim, limber body, curving in all the right places. He hurried back so he could see her in person.

He reached the den and entered. The first thing he noticed was that wolves weren't anywhere to be seen. He asked one of his kin, "Where are the wolves?" The wolf youkai looked up from the leg of a Bird of Paradise he was eating just long enough to point to Naomi and the wolves on the bed and went back to eating. Kouga noticed his bloody fingers, no doubtfully from the bird and scolded him. "Normally I wouldn't mind, but we have company. Go clean up." The youkai took one last bite and went to go clean himself off.

Kouga turned to the bed, and, for the first time, really noticed Naomi there. She was so beautiful just lying there, peacefully sleeping. Then he noticed the wolves all around her. What had gotten into them, he asked himself. They weren't usually this friendly towards anyone but the wolf tribe. Ignoring his curiosity about the wolves' behavior, he walked over to Naomi's sleeping form, stirring some of the wolves. They picked their heads up and looked at Kouga as if they would attack, but when they saw who it was, they put their heads back down and calmed. If I didn't know any better, he pondered to himself, I'd say they were protecting her.

Kneeling down beside her, Kouga shook Naomi gently by the shoulder. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open to see Kouga kneeling there beside her. "Oh, hello," she muttered drearily. "How long was I out for?"

"I don't know. I just got back," Kouga said. "Headache gone?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, but thanks anyway."

"Well that's good to hear," he said with a smile. "The wolves really seem to like you."

"Oh, yeah..."

"What did you do?"

"I just scratched one of them behind the ear. Then the rest of them came over."

"Who, Rusty?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Oh, sorry. Hey, Rusty," Kouga called, and one of wolves picked up his head. He was brown like most of the other wolves, but he also had a few golden and red streaks. Yes, that was the one, she thought to herself.

"Yeah, that's him. Why would that..."

"Oh, I don't know. He just seems to be the most friendly, so he gets more attention."

Rusty got up from his place from a few feet away and laid back down, snuggling against her knee.

"You kiss up," Kouga said, reaching over to scratch the wolf behind his ears. He whimpered and nudged Naomi's knee, which made some of the other wolves raise their heads. "Oh god, here we go again." Naomi said with a sigh, though she was not annoyed. Actually, she quite liked the wolves. It was going to be hard to leave them when she went home.

Home.

How was she going to get back? She didn't even know how she got here, much less how to get back. "Hey, Kouga..." she ventured.

"Hn?" He asked, still scratching the wolf's ear.

"Would you happen to know how I get home?"

"Home? I'm assuming the same way you came."

"Well...that's the problem. I haven't the slightest how I got here."

"I figured," he stated plainly.

"Well, I fell in the well and the next morning I was here. Shall we go see what happens if a go jump in it?" she asked, as if he knew the secret of the well.

"Why not," Kouga said.

"But...could I stay for lunch? I haven't eaten anything yet." Naomi said, her stomach starting to growl.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. So what do you like? Mice? Rabbits? Boar?"

Naomi hesitated. "You're joking, right?"

"Why would I be?"

"Uh...Why don't you come and stay at my place for lunch, huh?"

"Why? What's wrong?"

She made a face. "Uh...just not a real big fan of mice, boar, and rabbit."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, let's go then."

Kouga picked Naomi up as he did before. "We'll--I'll be back in a bit," he called to his kin as he jumped off the ledge and took of in the direction of the well. Naomi caught his slip. '_We'll_' be back? Does he want me to stay, Naomi asked herself.

"I bet my mother is worried sick," Naomi told Kouga just to start conversation. It didn't go anywhere. Then, because the slip of his tongue was nagging her so badly, she asked, "Do you want me to go home?"

This startled Kouga, causing him to stop in his tracks and she immediately knew he didn't want her to leave. Naomi smiled. "Don't really want to go either, but my mom is going to be worried. And besides. I need a change of clothes." She looked down at her outfit; her pajamas, which she was wearing when she was pulled into the well.

"You don't want to go?" he asked surprised.

"Not really. My life stinks back at home, but anyway, you and the wolves are really nice, and I would hate to leave without getting to know you better..." Naomi hesitated, but then added, "I don't have many friends. Not real friends."

"That's hard to imagine."

"Yeah. Guess you can't trust people much in my time," Naomi said, almost feeling sorry for herself.

"Eh, not always a bad thing. People can't always be trusted." He took off again.

Kouga reached the well, but he didn't slow. Instead, he jumped in without hesitation, and they were thrust through the portal between times.

The ground became visible once more, and Kouga jumped out of the well and sat Naomi down to her feet. They were in a large field, surrounded by woods on three sides, on the fourth side the land sloped down. Home, Naomi thought to herself.

"Where do you live?" Kouga asked, looking around the field.

"Down the hill," Naomi said, pointing to the slope a few yards away. Naomi took him by his hand and they walked to the edge of the slope.

"That's where you live?!" Kouga asked, shocked by the size of the house. "That hut's huge!"

"It's no hut. Nowadays, people live in places called houses, and they're usually that big," she explained, and then pointed to her neighbors' house. "See. Those are my neighbors. Their houses are just as big as mine."

Kouga didn't say anything. He'd never seen a hut--house that size. Yes, he was used to living in a cave that size, but a man-made home to be that big!

"Come on! Let's go!" Naomi called, taking off, running gleefully down the hill. Kouga quickly caught up with her and slowed down, running beside her down the hill.

Naomi nearly slammed into the door she had such a hard time stopping. Kouga easily stopped, and grabbed her around the waist to help stop her. In the reflection of the sliding door, Naomi smiled at Kouga as thanks and he smiled back. A few seconds later, she also added, "You can let go now."

Both Kouga and Naomi blushed and he pulled away. Just then, her mother rounded the corner of the hall. She spotted Naomi, ran to the door, she swung it open and ran out.

"Naomi! Where have you been?! I've been worried sick!" she almost seemed to squeal. She grabbed Naomi in a bear hug, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, my god, Naomi. Don't _ever_ leave me again!"

"Mom, sorry that I worried you, but I'm hungry and... you're squishing me," Naomi said, barely able to breathe. She didn't let go though. "...Mom..."

Kouga stepped in then and started detaching Naomi's mom from her. "Excuse me..."

She looked up then, letting go of her death grip on her daughter. "Naomi, who is this?" she asked, almost angered. Taking a step back from Naomi and putting her hands on her hips. "Naomi, who is this?" she repeated.

"Uh, Mom, this is Kouga. Kouga, Mo--"

"And this is what you've been doing? You've been off with some guy doing who knows what and you've had me worried sick? What's wrong with you?!" Her mother cut her off, and the more she yelled, the more Naomi just wanted to go jump back down the well and settle with a mouse for lunch.

"Mom, nothing happened. I fell down the--" she was cut off again

"I cannot believe you, Naomi! What were you thinking?!"

"I fell--"

"I mean, I understand you're getting to that age where--"

This time Naomi cut her mother off. "Mom!" she screamed. "We haven't done anything! I fell down the well and Kouga saved me! Nothing more!" Now she was quiet. She hugged Naomi again and said, "I am so sorry. I have just been so paranoid. I couldn't find you and I was so scared..."

"Mom, I know, but Kouga and I are hungry. Can I just fix us lunch so we--he can be on his way?"

Naomi's mother was too paranoid to catch her slip of the tongue. She pulled away one final time and said, "Of course, sweetie. What does your friend, here like? I'll fix it myself."

"Actually, I don't know. I was going to fix it by myself, though. You know, as thanks."

"Oh, okay. Just as long as you're safe." Naomi's mother directed the two through to open door, went in herself, and closed it, and went back to the computer.

Naomi lead Kouga over to the kitchen and decided, since he was a carnivore, she would find a good meat to cook. However, there was none that she could find, and cursed the luck.

"Mom," she called, and heard a "what is it" from down the hall as a response. "Do we have any meat? Steak preferably."

"Oh, yeah. In the garage refrigerator. Help yourselves."

"Thanks," she said, and started for the garage door.

"Is your mother always like that?" Kouga asked as he shut the garage door behind him. They had both entered it and Naomi was heading down the steps to the refrigerator.

"Pretty much. My mother's always been paranoid, or at least ever since Dad passed. He struck a deal with a gang near here. He wanted cheep drugs, but he bought so many of 'em, he couldn't pay off his debt, and they killed him. Now she's afraid of everyone she doesn't know and, I swear, she has a heart attack if I'm even a few minutes late." Naomi opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. There was some leftover spaghetti sauce, sodas, and there to the left was the steak she was looking for. "Ah, there it is."

"I've never had steak before," Kouga said, staring at the cold meat. "Come to think of it, I've never eaten meat cold, either."

Naomi laughed at how little he knew about the food. "You heat it up, first. We put it in here so it stays fresh longer." Naomi closed the door, meat in hand, and went for the steps. Once in the house, she found a cooler and filled it with ice.

"What are you doing? I thought you said you were supposed to heat it up," Kouga asked confused.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay with you," she said in a lowered tone. "Coming home just made me realize how much I need to get away."

"Of course. That's fine. Do you need to get anything before we go? Like the clothes you mentioned?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to have a time getting it past my mom. She thinks I'm staying, so carrying anything past her would look suspicious." She put the meat in the cooler, went to a cabinet overhead, grabbed a wine bottle and put it in the cooler as well. Last but not least, she grabbed two wine glasses and plates, and set them out for her to get later.

"My room is upstairs," she said pointing out the kitchen door. Headed for her room, she left the kitchen, Kouga following. To get to the stairs, they had to pass Naomi's mother in the office, but she didn't notice them go by. Up the stairs and two right turns later, they were in Naomi's room. Being used to her surroundings, she went straight for her closet and grabbed her book bag, throwing it on her bed, located a few feet away. She quickly grabbed all her jeans--a total of five pair--and six of her favorite shirts.

Kouga stared at her amazed as she ram-shackled her room for the things she needed. He sat down on her bed by the book bag and piled in everything she had thrown. When she finally turned around with the sixth shirt, she saw him helping her out and smiled. He smiled back as she tossed him the shirt and he put it in.

Naomi walked over to the dresser on the side of the room opposite of the closet and opened one of the drawers. She searched through it and grabbed some things, but held it down in the drawer until she had gotten everything. Naomi turned around and went over to Kouga and the book bag, he fully expecting her to toss the clothing.

"I don't think you want to put these in," she said, her hand full of thongs. He just looked at her oddly and shrugged. "Never mind." Naomi shoved the thongs in the book bag and grabbed her book off the bedside table and shoved that, too, in the bag.

Naomi looked down at her clothes and remembered she was still in her pajamas. Taking a pair of pants and a shirt out of the book bag, she stepped back and took off her pj shirt. "This doesn't bother you, does it?" she asked, putting on her shirt.

"Uh...I guess not," he said unsure if it really should be bothering him. He actually found her rather attractive; slim, strong, fair tan...then on the other hand, a beautiful girl didn't mind dressing in front of him, and she wasn't his mate. "Modesty isn't much of an issue with you though, is it?"

"Not really." She took off her pants and Kouga realized why she thought he wouldn't want to handle the clothing that came out of her drawer. He blushed and turned away. Naomi noticed right off.

"I thought you said you didn't mind," she said, pulling on the jeans and zipping them up.

"It's not that..."

"Well, whatever. I need to get a few more things and then we can go." Picking up her pj's and shoving them in the bag, she picked it up and went to the bathroom. She grabbed her brush, shampoo, soap, razor, and toothpaste and toothbrush, and went out to the bookshelf in the hall. A thick book with a black leather cover was the one she grabbed. She shoved that into her bag too and looked away from the shelf. Kouga came from around the corner.

"I'd hate to think of you as a youkai. How the hell'd I ever keep up with you?" Naomi smiled at his comment, and then lowered her voice.

"I'm sorry. It's just the excitement of finally getting the hell out of here is giving me a bit of an energy boost. Oh, that reminds me. I'll have to grab some coffee. Now c'mon." Naomi made her way downstairs, Kouga following behind. The minute she hit the first floor, though, her mother spotted them.

"What were you doing up there?" she asked, but when she noticed the book bag, she asked, "Where are you going? You're not leaving again, are you?"

Naomi stuttered over her words. She couldn't tell her mother she was leaving. It was just one of those things. She hated her, and yet, she hated to make her worry. "Uh...I, uh..."

Kouga cut in then. "I have a major bird problem. She's coming to help me remedy that."

"Birds?" she asked, skeptically. "I would think that you could do that your self."

"They're owls actually. He's had a problem with them before, but he wasn't able to get rid of them, so as thanks for pulling me out of the well, I'm going to see if I can be of any assistance. I won't be gone for more than two days. Promise." The two lied between their teeth.

With some hesitation, she agreed and Kouga and Naomi went back into the kitchen. She wrapped the wine glasses and plates in a few paper towels and gently put them in a separate pocket in the book bag. "Do me a favor and grab the cooler," she asked Kouga. He picked it up as she grabbed the can of Folgers coffee.

"Okay. Let's get the hell out of here," she said, taking the cooler and heading for the back door where they came in. "See you in a couple of days, Mom," she called, running out the door with Kouga. She shut the door behind them and started laughing hysterically.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, beginning smile himself.

The two started up the hill. "Birds?!" she managed through her laughter. "That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard, but it worked."

"Actually, it's no joke. I have a major bird problem, but they aren't small birds."

"What, like, hawks or something? Eagles?" she asked, beginning to calm her laughter.

"No," Kouga said sternly, and any trace of a smile was erased from Naomi's face. "They're called Birds of Paradise. Don't be fooled by the name. They're anything but friendly." Kouga had a grim expression on his face, and Naomi decided it would be best to stay quiet. The two made it to the well without talking. Upon arrival, Kouga took her back pack and the two jumped in


	3. An Unexpected Encounter

Chapter Three

An Unexpected Encounter

Kouga stopped at the base of a mountain and set Naomi on her feet. "This is a shorter way than we went before. If you can ride on my back, we can cut the time in half. The only reason I didn't go this way before was because I wasn't sure you could take it in the condition you were in."

"Yeah, let's go this way." Kouga took the book bag off his back and gave it to Naomi. She slung it over her shoulder and climbed on Kouga's back. From the speed he ran at before, she figured he was strong enough to get up the mountain.

"Ready?" he asked. Naomi confirmed, "Uh-huh."

Carrying Naomi on his back now, Kouga jumped up the mountain towards the den. Three years of rock climbing had taught Naomi not to be afraid of heights. However, the mountain was quite higher than anything she had had to climb before, so she didn't look down.

At the top, he offered to carry Naomi in his arms again, but, to save time, she said she was fine the way she was. Kouga took off along a path-wide ledge along the mountain, still heading for the den. A few minutes running and Naomi could see the river from the waterfall. She knew they were close. Then, she saw a big shadow fly overhead and Kouga stopped.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, trying to figure out if she should be afraid of whatever it was. She looked up to find out. From around a cliff, an off-white bird flew out. Normally, this wouldn't be so unsettling to Naomi. She had so many birds in her yard, it was hard to find a day when you couldn't find one. No, but this bird was different. It was twenty or more times the size of the birds in her yard, even bigger than her. It had no beak, just a row of sharp teeth. On it's back, it looked like a blue human was riding it, but when she saw no legs hanging from either side, she knew it was attached to the bird itself. Suddenly, another flew out. Soon, five of the birds had appeared and were looking straight down at Kouga and her.

"They're the Birds of Paradise, and from the looks of it, they want dinner. Now let's go. I can't do a thing about 'em right now." Kouga took off again. "See ya, buzzard brains. We're outta here"

"Hey! It's Kouga! Kouga's come back!" Ginta called for the second time that day. Another one of the youkai called out, "Hey! Kouga!"

Kouga stopped and let Naomi off his back. "Hey, guys. I'm back" he said, looking up at his pack.

Rusty ran out from what seamed like nowhere and came up to Naomi. "Hey, Rusty," she cooed, scratching the oversized puppy behind the ears.

"Come on, Naomi. Let's get you settled in," Kouga suggested, picking her up briefly enough to get her onto the ledge into the den. They both walked in and to the bed of grass. Naomi threw the pack off her back and onto the bed. Between the back door and the well, Naomi had managed to shove the cooler into the pack. Now, she pulled it out and set it down.

"Do you have like, a fire pit or something in here?" Naomi asked, opening the cooler and pulling the steak out.

"Over there," Kouga said, pointing to a little pit almost in the middle of the den. She thanked him and went over to the pit. The steak was wrapped in a Food Lion pack. She took it out and sat wondering how the hell she was supposed to cook the steak without an oven. However, she did know that in order to cook it, she would need fire. Naomi picked up two stones and started striking them together trying to get a spark. It was in vein, however. Kouga noticed her struggling and came over to help. He took the two stones from her a struck them together. On his first attempt, there was a spark, and in the next second, a flame.

"Have you ever done this in your life?" he asked laughing.

"I've never cooked this way before. So sue me." Naomi built a small rack with some of the sticks and hoped they wouldn't burn before the meal was ready. She put the two steak on and watched carefully as one side began to unfreeze. "I've never done this without a timer, either," she admitted.

Despite the lack of technology, Naomi managed to cook the steak. She put out the fire and went back to the cooler and pack. She took out the wine bottle and glasses and poured wine for Kouga and her. She grabbed the two plates and went back to the steak and called for Kouga. "Hey, Kouga. The steak is ready."

From behind the waterfall, Kouga emerged, followed by some of his pack. As soon as he heard them following him, though, he turned and scowled at them. They immediately turned and walked back out.

By this time, no one was in the den except Kouga and Naomi. He made his way over to her. "Smells good," he said.

Putting the steak on the plates, she thanked him and stood up, heading for the bed of grass. "Let's eat over here. It's more comfortable. She had had the wine glasses set out over there for them already. Kouga followed Naomi to the bed and sat down beside her. She passed him a plate and then looked down at hers. "Damn."

"What's wrong," Kouga asked.

"I forgot the goddamn silverware," she said. "Oh, well."

The two ate their steak with their hands. Naomi was pleasantly surprised that she did so well on lunch without an oven. Apparently, Kouga did too.

"This is really good, Naomi," he complimented her once again between mouthfuls.

"Thanks," she said, swallowing. She picked up the wine glass and guzzled it down in one breath.

Kouga and Naomi finished up their steak and wine and Kouga thanked Naomi for the meal once more.

Just then, the wolves came from behind the waterfall whining.

"Oh, you hungry too?" he asked the wolves as they came over to them.

"Ha. I guess I should have brought enough for everyone." Naomi joked.

"I guess I better go feed them. I've got some business I need to take care of anyway. I want you to stay here, Naomi. This might be a good time for you to get situated here."

"Okay. When you get back, maybe we can do something about the Birds of Paradise?" she suggested. Kouga, heading for the waterfall, responded, "Ha, we'll see."

Kouga let the wolves run ahead of him. They rushed into the village, searching for the one man. He ran out of a hut and jumped into the lake once he heard the wolves. He jumped into the lake, trying to escape the wolves, but his effort was in vein. The wolves jumped in after him and dragged him ashore, where Kouga stepped in. "I had to search high and low for you, you dirty thief." Kouga grabbed him by his hair and lifted his head so he would look up to him. "Now give me back the Sacred Jewel Shard that you stole from me."

The man took out the shard from his robes and set it on the ground. Kouga picked it up and stood up with a grin. He turned from the man.

"You're letting me go? Thank you for your mercy," the thief said.

"Ha!" Kouga turned and swept his claws through the thief. "Fool. I would have forgotten," he said, shaking his hand free of most the man's blood. Kouga took a step and then remembered the pack. "I've gotten what I wanted, so I'm gonna head back. You can stay and eat to your heart's desire. Catch up with me when you're done." Kouga ran off, leaving the wolves to eat the villagers.

The wolves spread out, one went to the dead thief, the others got their own villager. Three of them headed off through the woods after a little girl. Within minutes, the village was slaughtered.

Then, a group of people showed up. Three youkai, one half human, the other a mere boy, the third, a neko. The other three were human. A monk, a youkai slayer, and another girl.

"A massacre," the monk exclaimed.

"Is anyone here alive?" asked the youkai child.

"Was this done by a pack of wolves?" the youkai hunter asked.

They looked down at the dirt which was covered in wolf prints. "They left their tracks everywhere" the child noted.

"There must have been a great deal of them," the monk stated. "Do you think they could have been possessed by the jewel shard Kagome sensed?"

"Probably. This slaughter has 'youkai' written all over it." the hanyou said.

Then, the wolves came into their sight, growling, bearing their teeth. The child jumped up into the girl's arms. "Look out! The wolves are surrounding us!" he screamed, and indeed, they were. The wolves had formed a circle around the group, closing in on them slowly.

"Ha! Let's teach these wolves a lesson," the hanyou said, flexing his claws. "They're stray. Looks like their leader isn't even here. They're useless in battle unless they're in a pack." The hanyou ran forward, pulling out a sword and it transformed into something larger than he should have been able to hold. He cut through several of them before the rest leaped forward. However, he sliced through them too. The remainder of them recognized when they were outnumbered. They ran to the side of a hut and howled for Kouga.

"They're howling!" the kid said still petrified.

"They're calling for their comrades," the monk noticed.

Their howling echoed through the forest and the town. It was almost bone-chilling.

"I can sense the power of a Sacred Jewel shard. And it's coming at us fast!" the girl said. Everyone gasped and the hanyou got into a battle stance. From the woods, Kouga came running to the rescue of his wolves. He stopped in front of the group, jumping out of a whirlwind. "Just who are you? Explain yourselves. Why are you killing my wolves?"

"InuYasha, Lookout. He's got three shards--" the girl was cut off by her hanyou companion.

"So you're the one controlling this blood-thirsty pack?" the hanyou rudely questioned.

"And you're their executioner?" he asked, hurt and saddened at the sight of his wolves dead on the ground. "Damn you all for murdering my underlings. You'll pay with your lives."

"Go on. Try it. How many innocent people have you and your mongrels killed? You reek of human blood."

"They needed to eat. Got a problem with that, _Mutt Face_?"

"Did you just call me a mutt?"

"No. Your right. That would be an insult to canines. You smell much worse!"

"Don't like my smell? Then maybe I'll solve your problem by slicing off your nose and stabbing some air into your belly." The hanyou lunged after Kouga, but he leaped into the air before he hit and came down on the hanyou with a back kick to the face, sending him back a few feet.

"Unreal!" exclaimed the monk.

"He's fast," the youkai hunter noticed.

"InuYasha! Watch out! He's using the power of the Sacred Jewel. They're in his legs and his right arm!" she girl called.

She can tell? Kouga thought to himself.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" the hanyou asked, irked he had just been thrown back. "I thought you were acting pretty tough, but it's only 'cause you got jewel shards. You haven't got any power on your own, do ya?" he insulted, getting up.

"Ha! But you gotta know how to _use_ the power you whining whelp."

"If only you could fight as fast as you can talk. Then we'd get somewhere."

"Shut up! Albino runt!"

"You aughta be put down for rabies!"

"They're well-matched when it comes to foul behavior," the monk commented.

"He's a wolf youkai," the youkai slayer noticed.

"You've encountered them before?" the monk asked.

"I'm Kouga. The new leader of the Wolf Youkai Tribe. And your destroyer!" Kouga leaped at the hanyou, but he seamed to dodge every attack. The hanyou swung back, but Kouga dodged his attacks even more easily than the hanyou did his. He fell when he missed, and Kouga found it a golden opportunity. He ran at the hanyou, but he flipped him into a hut with his feet. It didn't phase him, however.

"Heh. You can barely keep up on the defenses, let alone attack." Kouga ran for the hanyou, but he lifted his sword and let out a war cry. Kouga could sense the power in the air and he stopped. "Something's wrong. Let's retreat! This is too dangerous!" Kouga and the wolves turned and ran back for the den.

"Kouga's back!" Hakkaku called as Kouga leaped up onto the ledge to get to the den. "Hey, Hakkaku," he said, almost completely ignoring him. He walked in the den rubbing his arms. Naomi was the first one to notice--after Hakkaku--he had come back.

"Kouga, are you cold?" she asked, noticing him vigorously rubbing his nicely toned arms. She came over to him and hugged him, trying to give him some of her body heat.

"It's not that. I came across a hanyou while we were out. He hade some major power. Ugh! My fur's still standing on end!" Kouga exclaimed. Naomi rubbed his upper back, trying to calm him. "Rusty, Jekai, Spike!" Kouga called. Three of the wolves showed up a few moments later. "Go find out what that mutt is all about." The three took off again.

Then Kouga noticed Naomi holding onto him, rubbing his back. She noticed the surprise in his eyes and pulled away blushing. "Eh... sorry."

Naomi walked back to the bed of grass and got soap, shampoo and conditioner out of her pack as well as her night clothes. It was dark now, and most of the wolves had gone inside the cave. She decided this would be the opportune time to take a bath.

"Where are you going?" Kouga asked.

"I gotta go take a bath. No offence, but I'm used to living in... well... cleaner conditions. I just need to bathe and I'll be happy."

"Hakkaku is out there on guard duty," he warned.

"So?" Kouga had forgotten she wasn't much for modesty.

"Never mind," he said, turning for the bed.

Leaving the den, Naomi walked down the trail the wolves had shown her earlier that day. Hakkaku smiled and waved at her as she went by. She returned the smile and kept going. At the edge of the river, Naomi set her things down and stripped. She could feel Hakkaku's eyes bearing down on her nude body. Without even looking up at him, she said, "It's impolite to stare, you know." She knew he had turned away.

She walked close to where the waterfall hit the river so she wouldn't hit her head on any rocks she couldn't see and then dove in. The water now seemed cold, but she couldn't tell if that was because the sun wasn't there to warm it up now, or if her lack of clothes had something to do with it. No matter, she got used to it almost the second after she jumped in. She swam around and dove down just to see how far she could go, and played around like that for a few minutes before she returned to shore to get her shampoo.

Kouga snuck out of the den and quickly found Hakkaku. "I'm going to take over for a few minutes," he said and Hakkaku immediately stood up. As he was going back to the den, he gave Kouga a horny smile and went inside. Kouga shook it off and jumped up to the top of the cliff where he sat down and looked down at the playful Naomi. She was swimming and playing around in the water. He smiled to see her having so much fun. Then, she swam to where she could stand and walked ashore. Kouga could feel himself blushing. Her beautiful, slim form, her firm and supple breasts, wet and glowing by the light of the full moon. For the second time, he noticed how beautiful she was. And then he imagined what it would be like to hold her, both of them in the water, nude and glowing. He couldn't help his arousal. He almost whined, trying to keep himself under control, but he kept quiet, knowing she would somehow or another hear him. He wanted to go back inside so he wouldn't risk it, but he knew someone had to stay out and keep guard, watch over her, and he'd rather it be him than Hakkaku, so he bit his lip and tried his bet to keep quiet. She completely took his mind off the hanyou.

Naomi poured about a quarter-sized amount of shampoo into her hands then closed the top and set it back on shore. She walked back out to where the water came up to her waist, rubbing the shampoo in her hands. She tilted her head back so she wouldn't get it in her eyes and lathered it into her hair. She scrubbed until her entire head was covered in bubbles. Then she dove back underwater and swam out to where she had to tread. She surfaced and then dove back under, swimming back to where she could stand. She went ashore again and grabbed the conditioner and repeated what she had done with her shampoo. After that was done, she grabbed the bar of soap and lathered it up in her hands. This time she stayed ashore, just so the water hit her ankles. She set the soap down and started running her soapy hands over her body, first at her neck, going down her arms, and then down the rest of her body.

Kouga could barely keep himself under control. Naomi rubbed the soap over her breasts and he wanted to do it then himself. God she was beautiful. He wondered what it would be like to have her as his mate. She was a really good cook, she was beautiful, but on top of all that, she was the nicest person he had ever met. He was glad she was staying with him.

Naomi swam back out to the middle of the river and dove down one last time, rinsing herself off. She surfaced and swam back ashore. Then she noticed she had forgotten to pack a towel. "Damn," she cursed herself under her breath. Then she figured the pack might have something to dry off with. She thought she could get Hakkaku to go get Kouga so she could ask him. She liked Kouga more than all of the other wolf youkai. "Hey, Hakkaku," she called, but when there was no answer, she turned to find out why. No one was there. Now, in the short time she had been with the youkai tribe, she had found out that there was always someone on guard duty. There had to be someone somewhere. She looked all around for someone keeping guard. Then, she saw a shadow at the top of the cliff. She recognized it almost immediately. "Hey, Kouga," she called, but with more enthusiasm than the she had called for Hakkaku. The shadow backed up out of view and Naomi laughed. "Kouga, it's okay. I don't care. Actually...it's quite flattering..."

Kouga came back into view and jumped down to her. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh...sorry about that..." he said embarrassed.

"Eh, it's okay. Like I said before, I don't mind," she said reassuring him. "But anyway, do you have something to dry off with. Stupid me, I forgot to pack a towel."

"You're not stupid," Kouga said, not really knowing what he was saying.

"Kouga," she said, trying to get his attention.

"Hn?"

She gave up and let out a sigh and smiled. "Do you have something I can dry off with?"

"Oh, sorry. Yeah. You stay here so the guys won't be staring at you," he said, starting to head for the den.

"I don't care. You know that," she said again, following him.

Kouga stopped and turned to face her, but she was walking too close behind him and she bumped into him. She backed up and looked up into his eyes. "But I... I do..." he choked out.

Naomi was stunned. She wasn't expecting him to say that, and especially not as compassionately as he did.

"I'll go on my own. Just stay here. I wont be long," he said turning. Kouga jumped up on the ledge leading inside the den and went in. Naomi put her hand over her open mouth in realization. He was in love with her. "Oh my god..."


	4. Birds of Paradise

Chapter Four

Birds of Paradise

It was morning before the three wolves came back. "I knew it. That sword of his uses some sort of magic." Kouga said as the three told him what they had seen. "Damn it. My fur is still standing on end just thinking about it. But at least I know what to do next. That girl has the power to see the Sacred Jewel Shards." I could put her skills to very good use, he thought.

Kouga went back into the den where Naomi was still asleep. He walked over to the bed and her sleeping form. Gently, he nudged her, waking her up. "Hey, Naomi," he said brightly. She smiled back at him as she forced herself to get up. "Hey, Kouga. What's up?"

"I've got to go and take care of some business. I just thought you should know," he said.

"Oh, thanks." she said, sitting up. "Uh, what's here to eat?"

"I'll get Rusty to get you something, but I have to get going or I'll miss my chance."

"Okay, well good luck, and thanks for letting me know before you left," Naomi said, giving Kouga a goodbye hug.

He was startled at first, but then hugged her back. "No problem."

Naomi let go. "See ya."

"Bye," he said and ran out.

Kouga sent the wolves to the top of the cliff and he waited at the bottom. About five miles from the den, the group he ran into before were walking along the path-wide ledge halfway up the cliff, heading straight for the den. The wolves ran down and attacked the group, three on the hanyou, sending him off the cliff, and the rest on the monk, the youkai hunter and the neko. Kouga ran up the cliff, passing InuYasha on the way. "See you later, Mutt Face." he said and continued up.

"InuYasha!" the girl said before Kouga grabbed her. "Now she's mine!" he said, running off for the den.

"Kagome!" the monk called as another wolf attacked. He blocked him with his staff. "No! Kagome!"

Kouga came up to a ledge but kept running. "What are you doing?!" Kagome screamed.

He jumped. "This cliff is nothing to me. I've got sacred jewel shards in my legs."

Kagome and the little youkai child on her shoulder screamed. Kouga caught onto the cliff. "Would you shut the fuck up?!" he yelled at her and started up the cliff. She was on his back, so she was screaming in his ear. His all-too-sensitive ear.

"I'll scream if I want to!" she yelled and continued screaming. Kouga continued up to the top.

The wolves jumped off the hanyou and onto a ledge, letting him fall into the river.

"They're going to pay for what they did," the hanyou said, looking up at the wolves. They stared back, and then ran off, seeing Kouga had gotten the girl.

Kouga stopped running and looked back at the hanyou. "Ha! He can't keep up with me. No one can run as fast as I can."

"Of course not," Kagome said. You have Sacred Jewel Shards jammed in your legs. You don't get bragging rights if you're cheating, you know"

"What did you say?"

"You've got some nerve kidnapping me like that. What do you want? What are you up to?"

"Hmph."

Just then, two shadows of the Birds of Paradise passed.

"Did you see that?" Kagome asked. "Was that a bird? Tell me that was just a really big bird."

Kouga didn't respond. He didn't see a reason to explain anything to her.

"C'mon. say something. You're freaking me out!" Kagome looked into the skies and saw seven or more of the Birds of Paradise. "What are those things?"

"They aren't canaries, I'll tell you that much," he said, hoping to shut her up. "See if any of them have Jewel Shards. Can you tell?"

"Hn?"

"I know you have to power to see Jewel Shards. Do those youkai birds have any?"

"No. I don't think so. I don't see any from here, anyway."

"Take a good look. Not even the ones over the cliff?"

"No."

"Then I've got no use for 'em." Kouga took off again, headed for the den.

Hakkaku spotted Kouga and let everyone know, "Hey! Kouga's back!"

Ginta also saw him and called to him, "Hey!"

Kouga stopped on a rock in the middle of the river. Most of his pack was outside. "Hey guys."

From inside the cave, Naomi heard Kouga's voice echoing through the walls. She smiled and got up from the bed, carrying her meal, a roasted rat that Rusty had caught for her. She ran to the ledge on the outside of the waterfall so she could see Kouga. "Hey, Kouga," she called with a wave. Then she noticed the girl on his back and wondered what he had gone to do. "Hey, Naomi," he called with a smile.

Kouga jumped up onto the ledge and went inside, Naomi following beside him. He let the girl off his back and grabbed her strongly by the upper arm, leading her to the grass bed. One of the wolves asked, "Hey, Kouga. Who's the woman?" He didn't respond.

Kouga stopped at the bed and he threw the girl on. Naomi half expected him to get on overtop of her and mate her, but he only stood there. Then one of the youkai spoke up. "Nice looking prey, Kouga. Can I have one of the legs?"

"I claim first dibs on the liver," said another.

Naomi took a bite of the skinned, roasted rat, almost glad she had that and didn't have to eat a human like her.

"This woman is off limits. I'll kill anyone who tries to take a bite." As she listened to Kouga and the wolf youkai, it reminded her of when she came.

Three of the wolves came up behind Kouga, Rusty included, whining and sniffing his tail. Kouga looked back at them.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Him." he said, grabbing the tip of his tail and lifting it up so he could see the underneath. "I forgot he grabbed on to my tail when I captured the girl. I assumed he fell off. Guess not." Kouga took the kid off his tail and threw him in the middle of the wolves. "Here. Have an appetizer."

The wolves stared growling and started closing in on the kid. "Kagome! Help! Kagome help!" the kid screamed.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" the girl said, getting off the bed. "Do you want my help with the jewel shards or don't you? If anyone lays a hand on Shippou I refuse to help. I don't care what you do to me!"

Naomi was relieved to learn that the girl had just been brought in to help, but what the hell was a Jewel Shard.

"Well. You've got more courage than I thought," he said, moving for the gang of wolves.

"Huh?" the girl said in shock.

"C'mon, move!" He said, picking up one of the wolves. "Whoa. You guys have packed on a lot a weight again, you bunch of gluttons. You're not eating anything else for a couple of days." He let the wolf off out of his way and walked in to the middle. He grabbed the child and tossed him to the girl. "Here you go."

"Shippou!" she exclaimed.

"Kagome!" he said in return, trying to give her a bear hug, but with his small arms, it was impossible.

Naomi was relived Kouga let the boy go. His soft spot is kind of cute, she thought.

"Move! Move out of the way! We've got injured. Make room!" a wolf youkai yelled, coming into the cave. He walked with three others and two carried on stretchers.

"What happened out there?" one asked.

"Get him some water. Come on. Hurry up!" he said without answering the question.

Another one of the wolf youkai brought a home-made bowl over to the two on the stretchers and helped them drink.

Kouga came over and noticed one of them had a fist full of feathers. "Was it them?"

"Yeah. They attacked hard during the mid-day changing of the watch. Only these two managed to escape. Others fell off the cliff to their death and were carried away." Ginta answered him.

"Oh, my God!" Naomi said, coming over to Kouga.

"Such terrible wounds," the girl stated, also stopping near Kouga.

"You two saw them earlier. They call themselves the Birds of Paradise but they're our arch enemies and this is definitely their doing. They're brutal youkai and we've lost many to them. Without warning, they swoop down silently and capture our comrades with their sharp, powerful claws." Kouga walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Oh, Kouga," Naomi said, sounding as pained as Kouga.

"Then what do they do?" the girl asked. Naomi was angered by her bluntness, wishing she had consideration for his feelings, but Kouga continued anyway.

"They eat them. We've come across their nest before and found them littered with hundreds of wolf bones." Naomi sat down beside Kouga and put her hand on his shoulder.

"And even you're no match for them?" the girl asked.

"That's just it. One of the Birds of Paradise possesses a Sacred Jewel Shard and now he's even faster than we are. A few weeks ago, he killed fifty of our wolves in one fell swoop. It's gotta be the power of the Sacred Jewel. At this rate, I'm afraid our pack's about to be wiped out completely. So we need to find a way to restore the balance of power somehow."

"So your pack is in danger and that's why you want me to find which Bird of Paradise has the shard?" the girl asked.

"You'll scout out the bird with the shard. Then, we'll attack its nest and steal it from him. Otherwise, the fighting between us will drag on and lives will continue to be sacrificed senselessly... So... You gonna help us out, or what?"

"Yes." she said simply. "I will."

"What's this?" Hakkaku asked. The wolves had brought in a pile of mushrooms. "These are gross!" he exclaimed. "Don't pick 'em if you can't eat 'em!" he threw one at one of the wolves and he whimpered. Naomi noticed the youkai child was quite startled by this. However, she took another bite of the rat and dismissed the action.

Kouga came over to Naomi and sat down beside her. "Hey," he said.

"Hey. Look I'm sorry about..." she trailed off, not wanting to say something that might hurt him.

"It's alright...Look, I've got to go out to guard duty so you're going to be here with Rusty for a little while again. Just thought you should know." Kouga stood back up and grabbed a spear.

"Hey, Kouga..." she started, standing up.

"Hn?" he asked, turning around.

"I want to go with you. I think I should earn my keep if I'm going to stay he--"

"No. It's way too dangerous. I don't want you hurt," he said, cutting her off.

"Kouga. I took karate lessons for twelve years, kendo for eight... I think I can handle myself... but if you don't think so, Rusty can come. I've seen him hunt."

Kouga hesitated. True, she was going to have to earn her keep around there sometime, he just didn't want to be responsible if she got hurt. However, he figured he could protect her should something go wrong, and if she was as good with a sword as she said she was, it might be interesting to see her handle herself against one of the birds. He finally agreed. "Kendo, right? Here," he said, taking off his sheath and sword and giving it to her.

"Don't you need it?" she asked.

"I don't use it much. I'll be fine," he said. "Now let's go."

Naomi hooked the sword to the belt loop on her jeans and she and Kouga walked out of the den and stopped on the ledge. Kouga picked Naomi up by the waist, leaped to the top of the cliff and let her go. They met up with Ginta and Hakkaku and went off a little ways in the direction opposite the den for watch.

They stopped behind a group of boulders and hid. Naomi saw birds everywhere. There had to be at least a hundred of them, probably more.

"So, what now?" Naomi asked in a hushed tone.

"We basically make sure the Birds of Paradise don't head for the den. We aren't going to fight if we don't have to. We loose too many that way." Kouga explained everything and Naomi nodded in confirmation. Then one of the wolf youkai called out, "Kouga, look!"

They had spotted them. "Damn!" Kouga cursed. Ginta and Hakkaku went out and prepared to fight. "You stay back here if you can't do this. If you get down as close to the ground as you can and close to the rocks, They won't be able to get you." Kouga said.

"Kouga, I'm no coward. I'm going to fight." Both Kouga and Naomi jumped from behind the rocks and were immediately attacked by the Birds of Paradise. One headed straight at Naomi, but she pulled out Kouga's sword and slit its neck before it could get her. It fell into a spiral and crashed into some rocks behind her. "Ha!" she exclaimed. Despite the danger these birds could be, she was having fun. She got a brief break from slicing before she heard one yelling a battle cry behind her. She turned and saw one headed straight for her, however, before it could get her, just like the other one, she sliced its neck and it fell straight off the cliff. It was then she was aware of how close to the cliff she was and she could imagine the others falling to their doom like Ginta had said. She shook the thought from her head and turned her attention to Kouga. She noticed he was about to kill a Bird. However, she also noticed one coming in behind him, but it seemed he was unaware. As it got closer to him and he still didn't turn around, Naomi got worried. She ran to him, jumped in the air, and sliced the Bird's neck before it could get to him. She went into a roll and then stood up, the noise attracting Kouga's attention. He killed the Bird and then turned to her, also noticing the bird right next to her. "Did you..."

"Yeah. It was gonna get you, and I panicked..." Naomi explained.

"Thanks," he said with a smile and Naomi obliged with a nod. Suddenly, his eyes moved to behind her . "Look out," he said, jumping high into the air and slicing the bird coming for them. He landed beside Naomi and shook his hand free of the bird's blood. She scrunched her nose in disgust of the blood.

The two looked around for more birds, but they had all mysteriously disappeared. "Kouga! They retreated!" Hakkaku called to him. He was right. No others showed up.

"Naomi, I'm gonna make you my woman," Kouga said unexpectedly, grabbing Naomi gently around the waist and pulling her close to him. "Wolves mate for life, so you're mine now, got that?"

"Me? Are you sure? I'm nothing special." Naomi said, blushing.

"Of course you are. You're beautiful, loyal... You're perfect for me."

Kouga heard something coming from back at the den. "Hold on just a minute." he said, racing off to the edge of the cliff on the den's side. Naomi followed. She saw him jump off. She came up to the edge and peered over.

"And what did I say about eating her?!" he yelled at one of the wolf youkai. Noticing the little fox wasn't near the girl as he usually was, Naomi looked around to find him. She spotted him flying along down a few hundred feet below the cliff. "Hey, Kouga!" she called. He turned to her. "The kid got away. That could prove to be a problem if she's got friends, like the guy with the sword?" Naomi jumped down on a ledge that was a few feet down, then found another and leaped down on it. She continued down three more before she couldn't reach anymore. Kouga noticed and jumped up to help. "Get the girl inside," Kouga called down to the wolf youkai below. "Need some help?" he asked.

"Please," she said simply, and he scooped her up in her arms honeymoon style like he had when he first met her and jumped down to the ledge leading into the den. He let her on her feet and she immediately turned and caught his lips in hers. Kouga almost jumped in surprise, but then he relaxed and started to kiss her back.

"Thank you," she said when they pulled away.

"What for?" he asked confused.

"For everything. In just two days, you've been more of a friend than any of my friends have been in the past six years."

"Then your welcome," he said and kissed her again. "C'mon, Naomi. We have a battle to prepare for."

Kouga and his Tribe gathered behind boulders at the Bird's nest. They covered the skies, hundreds of them. "This is it. Are you ready?" Kouga asked the tribe. They all responded with cheers and war cries.

"This mountain is the nesting place for the Birds?" the human girl asked.

"Yeah and one of them at the top possesses a Sacred Jewel Shard. You have to find out which one."

"Alright," she said plainly.

Suddenly, the girl gasped and Kouga looked up to find out what she was gawking at. He saw the birds gathering around the boulders.

"Damn. They're on to us. Okay, guys. You take on the grunts yourselves. Naomi, you be careful, and remember what I told you on guard duty this morning."

"And you remember what I told you. I'm no coward," Naomi reassured him with a smile.

"Alright," he said, pulling her in for a brief kiss and then turning to the girl. "C'mon, you." He took her around the waist and jumped out from behind the rocks, heading for the cliff. Naomi and the others followed, but only going far enough out to fight. The birds swooped down to attack, but the wolf youkai and Naomi chained, speared and slaughtered most of them before they could ever hit.

Kouga leaped up the mountain, Kagome screaming all the while. He slashed through the Birds trying to block his way. "Kagome. Can you tell which one of them has the jewel shard?"

"I can't concentrate on looking while you're fighting," she said, but then answered, "Up there. It's right ahead of us on that cliff." Kouga jumped to the cliff, but just as he did, the Bird came out, knocking Kouga and the girl half way to the bottom of the cliff. Naomi noticed right away, as she had been keeping him in her eyesight the whole time. She sliced the Bird coming for her with Kouga's sword and then turned to face him. "Kouga!"

He landed on his feet, unhurt, save his ear. Kagome screamed all the way down. The Bird broke through the mountain, spreading its wings and stepping into view. It was twice the size of any of the other birds and had the upper bodies of two people instead of one. It flew out to face Kouga.

"We have been waiting for you," one half of the bird said with a raspy, very inhuman voice. "You have Sacred Jewel Shards. My brother and I have been seeking them everywhere."

"How convenient that you have decided to make a home delivery and come to us. That saves us the trouble of hunting you down." The other one spoke.

"Heh. I've got something to deliver alright," Kouga taunted. "Kagome, where's the Sacred Jewel Shard?"

"I see it! It's in the mouth!" she answered.

"And you'll get a good glimpse at it when we swallow and devourer you!" yelled the first body. Its mouth began to glow and it headed for Kouga and Kagome.

"Kouga!" Naomi yelled again with concern, wishing there was something that she could do to help.

"A wolf and a human. Delicious," it said, ramming into the mountain. Kouga had jumped before it could get them. He landed on the ground and let the girl go. "Naomi. Throw me that spear," Kouga called. Naomi looked around her for the spear Kouga spoke of and spotted it behind her as well as some arrows and a chain. She grabbed it and tossed it to him. "Destroy that thing," she said with an evil grin.

"Where are you going?" Ginta asked. "What are you planning to do?"

"You heard Naomi. I'll cut it's stupid mouth wide open."

"You're not going after the Shard on your own, are you?" Kagome asked.

"I'm the only one strong enough to take that two-headed talking turkey on." He took off up the cliff. "Here goes nothing!"

Just then, another bird swooped down and grabbed Ginta with one of it's claws. "Help!" he yelled, desperately trying to get loose.  
Thinking quickly. Naomi turned back to the chain she had seen before. Swinging it in the air above her head, she ran after the bird. She threw the chain and it wrapped around the bird's other leg. If she had waited any longer to react, she wouldn't have been able to catch it. Pulling the chain as hard as she could, Naomi made the bird drop a few feet with a screech.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled at the tribe after she noticed most of them were just watching her. "Help me!" Then Hakkaku and some of the others pitched in, throwing spears and their own chains, dragging it down even further. However, it wasn't enough. Naomi climbed up her chain to Ginta. With her foot, she lifted the chain up to him and told him to take it and hold on tight. Once he took it, Naomi unsheathed Kouga's sword and sliced the bird's foot off with a war cry. Ginta was set loose and he climbed down the chain. Naomi, however, climbed onto the bird's back. Grabbing it by the horn on it's head, she pulled it's head back, exposing it's throat. She put the sword to it. "You can let go, now," Naomi called down to the pack. They pulled the chains so they fell off and the bird and it hovered there for a moment, afraid that if it moved, it would be decapitated.

"Now take me up to Kouga," Naomi said and the bird obeyed, not wanting to be hurt. She flew up to Kouga, noticing he had stopped half way up the cliff and was staring down at something.

"What?" She asked, turning to find what he was looking at. There was a guy with white hair and dog ears and was dressed in all red. She also saw a monk and a youkai hunter, both riding a neko youkai, and most of the birds were gone from the sky.

"It's that damn Mutt Face. He's the last thing I need right now," he told Naomi. "I don't have time for dog training today, so I'll let you escape," he called down to the hanyou. "Go home, puppy. Get out of my face."

"Shut up!" the hanyou yelled back. "Dream on, wolf. You're gonna pay for kidnapping Kagome."

"I'll bet even I could bring you down," Naomi yelled at the hanyou, not even knowing who he was, but when she saw the chance to defend her new friend, she wasn't about to miss out. "I highly doubt you could do anything to make him pay."

While Naomi yelled down at InuYasha, Kouga started up the cliff. InuYasha noticed and started to follow him. Kouga heard the wind brushing through clothes and turned to find the hanyou following him. "Stupid Mutt. I thought I told you, I'm too busy. Go play fetch somewhere else."

"Kouga! It's about another fifty feet up," Kagome called from the ground and InuYasha stopped to look down at her.

"Fifty feet up? Cause there's nothing at the peak." Kouga looked up to find the bird, but to no avail. Then, suddenly, it flew out from the clouds, headed straight for him. Hearing the wind beneath it's wings, Kouga turned and saw it, and jumped, causing it to crash into the cliff as it did before. It headed up after Kouga. He noticed and kicked off the mountain again, going even higher. When it opened it's mouth to eat him, Kouga shoved the spear into the bird's mouth. "Chew on this!" Kouga yelled. However, he underestimated the jaw-power of the gigantic bird. It bit down on the spear, breaking the handle and gnawing down on Kouga's arm. It started flying at a faster pace, trying to tear his arm off for the shard.

"Kouga!" Naomi yelled for the third time that battle. She started up the mountain for him and the bird.

The bird grinded it's teeth on Kouga's arm, breaking the skin. His youkai blood spilled in the bird's mouth. "Damn it," Kouga yelled and kicked the bird's teeth, shattering them and setting him free. Unfortunately, the wound in his arm let the Jewel Shard loose and the bird caught it. Kouga fell to the peek, dust flying up, a huge crater formed where he fell.

Naomi flew over the peek, sliced the bird's neck and jumped off it, running over to Kouga, calling his name again. He had climbed to his knees by the time she had reached him and was clutching his right arm, blood pouring through his fingers. He didn't look at her, however. His eyes were fixed on the bird, which now had his shard as well as its own.

"Damn it. It's coming back for the Shards in my legs," he said grimly.

"Aw, hell no," Naomi said, stepping in between Kouga and the bird, going into a fighting stance with the sword, ready to strike.

"Naomi, don't," Kouga pleaded. "You're gonna get hurt."

"Kouga, I'm not just gonna stand idol while that thing tears you up for your Jewel Shards, whatever the hell they are."

Just then, InuYasha came over the cliff and walked in between Kouga, Naomi and the super powered Bird of Paradise.

"Oh, great," Naomi said irritated at the hanyou's presence.

"Why are you here?" Kouga asked also annoyed.

"Shut up and take notes, fleabag. You're about to witness some real power, now," the hanyou said. The bird with the shards opened it's mouth wide as it stared down at the three.

"He has two shards left!" one of the bodies exclaimed.

"I know! Think of the power we'll have when we take them!" said the other, and both then laughed maniacally. It's mouth glowed with twice the light as it had before and InuYasha drew back his sword. The very chill that had ran through his back earlier that day came back and Kouga shivered.

InuYasha sliced through the air, a wave of light heading straight for the bird. It exploded into a million or so pieces, chunks disintegrating in thin air.

"Holy shit..." Naomi said startled. She and Kouga gawked as the pieces of the massive bird disappeared in an instant, realizing the hanyou's power.

The youkai hunter flew up the side of the cliff on the neko and picked up Kouga and Naomi, InuYasha jumping down the cliff ahead of them. She flew down the side to the group below. Naomi helped Kouga off and the two went to the tribe. Kouga collapsed to his knees and Naomi kneeled down after him. Concerned he was going to fall over, she made him sit down and leaned him against her.

InuYasha stepped out from behind some of the wolf youkai. "I single-handedly got rid of the pigeon from hell. Now there's just this fleabag wolf to deal with."

"You aren't gonna touch him, Mutt Face," Naomi said, imitating what Kouga had called him.

"C'mon, InuYasha. The guy's hurt," Kagome said looking down at Kouga and Naomi. This is no time for posturing."

"Never mind. This is nothing," Kouga said, attempting to stand.

"Kouga, don't fight this idiot. He's not even worth your time," Naomi said, trying desperately to get him to lie back down.

"Trying to get me while I'm down?" Kouga said, ignoring Naomi's attempts. She stood up with him incase his legs gave way. "Well I'm still able to whoop ya."

"Again with the insults," InuYasha said smugly. "You're dead!" he yelled and plunged for Kouga.

"InuYasha, sit boy," Kagome said and the hanyou was pulled to the ground.

Kouga started to collapse again, but Naomi caught him and helped him down gently.

"Get him out of here," Kagome said.

Ginta and Hakkaku moved to their leader and Naomi got out of their way.

"Here, Kouga," Ginta said.

"Take my arm," Hakkaku said. They picked him up and the tribe ran off, Naomi keeping an eye on him all the way back to the den.

With her arm around his waist, the other holding his left wrist with his arm over her shoulder, Naomi walked Kouga to the bed and laid him down, going off to the backpack a few feet away. She pulled out the black, leather covered book from an outside pocket and opened it to its index.

Kouga lifted himself up on his left elbow and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going out to find something to put on that," Naomi said, gesturing to the huge gash in his right forearm.

"I'll be fine. I don't want you going out right now anyway. It's dangerous out at night."

"Muggers, youkai, I don't care. I can hold my own if need be. If you're that worried I can take Rusty, or even one of the others, but I don't like the looks of that thing."

"Naomi, you aren't going out there," Kouga said, commanding her to stay.

Naomi kneeled down beside Kouga. "Kouga, I'm just going to the top of the cliff to get you some healing herbs. You know I can protect myself."

"I know, but I don't want to take chances."

"I'm still going," Naomi said stubbornly.

Kouga let a little growl escape his lips. "Then I'm going, too."

"You're too week from the battle. You'd be in more danger than I would be."

Kouga climbed to his feet and pulled Naomi up. She probably would have resisted, but in his current state, she didn't want to pull him over. "I'm a youkai. I recover quickly. See? I can walk now."

"Fine," she said with a defeated sigh and turned to the page on healing potions. "This is what we'll need."

Kouga scanned the page, recognizing the names and pictures of all the herbs. "I know where all of these are. Let's go." Kouga shakily set off for the exit of the cave. Naomi caught up to him and settled under his arm and put her arm around his waist. "I said I could walk," Kouga said.

"I know. I just like being here," Naomi said with a smile. She was only half lying, though. True, she still thought he might fall, but she did kind of like being under his strong arm. She felt like she belonged there, like she simply belonged for the first time in years.

Am I falling for this guy, she wondered to herself. It was hard not to. He was protecting her, and he cared for her in a way neither her mother nor father ever did, or any guy back in the present would. Yes, she was sure of it. She was falling for him.

Naomi took a path up to the top of the cliff, as she wouldn't let Kouga risk getting hurt by leaping to the top. A part of her knew that he could, but the other half... well, all of her knew he could do it without getting hurt, but she was enjoying walking beside him, more than, she realized, she enjoyed being carried by him. She stared up at the stars and noticed she could see so many more than she could from her time. "So many stars," she said, gazing contentedly into the night sky. "You can't even see half as many at my place," she noted.

Kouga looked up, taking in the beauty Naomi was and smiled. "It is beautiful, isn't it?"

Then Naomi turned her attention to the moon, figuring Kouga, having the bit of wolf in his blood, would be more interested in it than the stars. It was almost full that night, and shining the brightest she'd ever seen it. It was stunning, and she realized then why wolves cried to the moon. "The moon is amazing tonight," she commented. Kouga agreed with a nod and a smile.

They reached the top of the cliff and collected the herbs for the potion. They went back down to the den and Naomi and Kouga sat on the bed, leaning against the wall, Naomi starting to ground the herbs in one of the hand-made bowls.

"Why do you care so much about what happens to me?" Naomi asked out of the blue.

"What are you talking about?" Kouga asked. "Why wouldn't I care."

"No one's never cared about me like you do. Not my mother and not my father, not my friends, so why should you?"

"I'm not like them," Kouga said concerned. "Naomi, is there anything you want to tell me about your family... or anything you _should_ tell me?"

"I guess you do have a right to know... My family has never been a really good one. My mother divorced my father when I was four, so I didn't understand much, but I did know my mom made Dad go away and I got mad at her for it. Dad was so much nicer than her, or at least that's what he made me believe.

"Five years ago, Mom finally told me why she divorced him. It turned out, he had raped me several times. I didn't remember any of it though, so she took me to a shrink. Within six sessions, I started to remember, and that's when I started hating my father. And Mom got back on my good side.

"Three years after that, my mother got back with him, and I started hating her again. Then, well I told you how he died. He made some goddamn deal with a fucking gang and when he couldn't pay the drug money, They blew his fucking head in. Served him right, though. He was never paid for anything he did wrong until then and I was just fine with it." Kouga noticed she started grinding the herbs harder as she came to talk of something painful. Her scent had changed as well. He could tell she was pouring all of her emotion into her story. He could almost feel her pain...He started running his nails up and down her arm, trying to calm her down.

"That was when mom turned into a paranoid freak-out and wouldn't let me or my brother--who, by the way was raped by my father as well-- go anywhere that entire year. After that, when she finally did let us go out, we weren't aloud to go out after the sun had set and nowhere until it was ten in the morning unless it was to go to school, and even then, she would have to drive us over.

"A few months ago, my mother and brother got into a huge fight, about what, I never did find out. I was out at the mall with my 'friends' when it happened. I came home and there he was, dead, face down on the floor, blood everywhere. My mother was in the corner of the room under a table, a bloody knife beside her, rocking herself back and forth, a bear bottle in her hand to comfort her. She was so drunk...

"So many times did I think of escaping, running away from her and that god-forsaken hellhole, but... I never did. Why, I don't know, but when I saw the opportunity to run away with you, I took it."

Kouga sat silently while she slowly calmed down. Suddenly, the distinct salty smell of tears filled the air and he saw her shoulders jump with a sob. She set the bowl of herbs beside her and climbed into Kouga's lap, crying into his armor.

"Oh, Naomi," he said with concern. "I'm sorry. I had no idea." He wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her by rocking her back and forth.

Naomi wrapped her arms tighter around him, happy someone was holding her. No one had ever held her as he did, out of pure love and concern. He held her tighter as she let her tears fall freely and kissed her gently on the top of her head. He held her until her sobs came to a slow. "Thank you..." Naomi sobbed.

"For what?" he asked softly.

"For everything. Being so kind..." she trailed off in tears again.

He wiped her tears from her beautiful face with the ball of his thumb and planted another light kiss on her forehead. He was sorry he even brought it up.

Naomi fell asleep like that, her tears finally ceasing a few minutes later. Kouga looked at her peaceful form. No. She wasn't quite peaceful, but she wasn't as upset. He reached over to a fur blanket in the corner and pulled it over Naomi and watched her as she slept.


	5. Getting Closer

Chapter Five

Getting Closer

Naomi woke up that morning with an unfamiliar weight over her. Kouga's tail was wrapped over her waist, his hand a few inches from her bra. His warm breath whispered over her neck as he slept, sending chills down her spine. Then, she wondered, Did we do anything... She recalled the night before and how she had poured her heart out and cried herself to sleep in Kouga's arms. They didn't do anything. But how did she get this way? Kouga must have moved them and pulled a blanket over them.

Kouga's arm wasn't holding her very tight, so she turned so she was facing him. Kouga frowned at the sudden shift, but then relaxed again, pulling her a little closer. Then she noticed he had removed his armor. When had he done that?

He looked so peaceful while he slept. The strong, protective look that was usually on his face was gone for a serene, relaxed expression. Naomi smiled at him. She'd never seen this side of him, but she definitely liked it.

Naomi looked at the waterfall and she could see that it was still dark out. Okay, so it isn't morning, she thought to herself. She saw it as her chance to take a bath, as no one but the one single youkai would be out there watching her. True, she didn't care, but she knew Kouga did, so she wanted to go when the least amount of people would be there to watch her.

Trying to move out from under Kouga's arm, she awoke him.

"Hey Naomi," he said drearily.

"Hey," she said back.

"Where were you going?" he asked, moving on top of her to pin her down, showing her he didn't want her to go anywhere.

"Nowhere now," she said with a small giggle. "But I _was_ going to bathe. Why don't you join me?"

Kouga snickered and brought his mouth down to her neck and moaned. He licked her and started nibbling her neck. Naomi smiled. "I'll take that as a yes..."

Kouga lifted his head up to nibble on the other side of her neck, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and she captured his lips in hers. She rolled, so she was on top of him, the light weight of her on top of his manhood enticing a moan. He held tighter to her then, holding his hands at the small of her back and at the back of her neck. Naomi could feel his arousal pressing against her through the material between them. He pulled away for a second. "The moon might be beautiful, but it's nowhere as appealing as you," he said, and rubbed his hand up her back, lifting her shirt.

Naomi moaned as he rubbed his hand back down and moved his thumb beneath the material of her jeans, intending to take them off, but when she heard one of the wolves that had been sleeping near by, she pulled away to look at him. It was Rusty who was staring back at her with a very annoyed face. Kouga lifted himself to see what Naomi was looking at and she whispered to him, "We're being too loud."

"Then let's go outside," Kouga suggested.

Eager to go further, Naomi agreed, dismissing the fact they would be on the ground and the fact that she really wanted to bathe. He got off her and she went over to her pack to grab clothes and shampoo and soap. Kouga grabbed a few fur blankets and took Naomi by the hand. The two walked out of the cave as quietly as they could, stopping at the ledge. Giving the blankets to Naomi, Kouga leaped up the cliff instead of down, carrying Naomi in his arms to a field. He stopped at the base of a tree and set her down, taking one of the blankets from her and laid it out for them to lay on. Naomi set her clothes and the extra blankets down in the corner of the blanket and walked over to Kouga, wrapping her arms around his neck. "How do you wanna..." Naomi started, but trailed off. Sex had always been a hard thing to talk about for her because of her rough childhood.

"I don't know," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I've never done this before... I was kinda just gonna go with it."

"Okay," she mumbled before Kouga brought his mouth down to hers again. He brushed his lips against hers, bringing out yet another moan from Naomi, this time in surprise of the difference in touch. With her moan, Naomi opened her mouth, and Kouga took the chance to push his tongue in. She moaned again, pressing her hip against his arousal.

Kouga slid his hand up under her shirt and gently rubbed the soft flesh of her back up and down her spine with his claws. She arched her back against him with the sudden tickle on her back. Chills of pleasure ran up and down her spine and she got more vigorous with the kiss.

Pulling away briefly, he asked her, "You like that, do you?" He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and raised it up, his claws tickling her sides, she lifting her arms to help him take it off. Then she brought her mouth to his neck and began kissing and nibbling him as he went to trying to get her bra off. He fiddled with it for about half a second before he got annoyed with it. "How do you get this off?" he finally asked her.

She looked up from his neck. "Hn?" She hadn't heard him over her own moans. He ran a claw down next to one of the straps of her bra and she immediately knew what he had asked. She took his hands in hers and brought them back to the clasp in the back. He unhooked it and pulled it off her shoulders by the straps, making sure his claws ran down her arms, knowing she liked the sensation. He tossed it off to the side with her shirt and pulled her down to her knees, he sitting down on his ankles. He ran his claws gently down from her shoulder over her breast and then moved his mouth to her nipple, gently nibbling with his fangs.

"Oh, god, Kouga..." she moaned as she closed her eyes, her head tilting back at the sudden rush of pleasure. She arched into his mouth and he brought his hands around to the small of her back, dragging his claws along the way. Looking down again, she pulled his hair out of the ponytail, pulled off the bandanna and started running her fingers through his hair, giving him a light scalp massage.

Kouga pulled away from his teasing briefly to switch to her other breast where he started to nibble and kiss again. Naomi was getting anxious. She wanted to touch him as much he was touching her. "Enough," she moaned and pulled his head away from her. "My turn," she said, slipping her fingers under the waist of his fur pelt, pulling it down. She pulled him up to his knees and bent down to his arousal, her mouth molding over his tip. She slowly took him inside her mouth, Kouga moaning with pleasure. He closed his eyes, his hands moving to her head. She flicked his tip with her tongue and took him inside her mouth once again. If she can do this with her mouth, I wonder how she is... he wondered to himself.

"You wanna go?" Kouga asked, dying to take her. She slid him out of her mouth and agreed. They stood up so Naomi could take her jeans off and Kouga could get the fur the rest of the way off.

Kouga kissed her gently one last time and turned her around. He wrapped one arm around her waist, his hand coming to rest on her lower stomach. Naomi knew where this was going, and went down on her knees with Kouga. She leaned onto her hands, and took one hand and moved her hair off to one side, allowing Kouga access to her neck. She spread her knees apart wide, allowing him entrance.

With Kouga's erection running along her slick womanhood, Naomi's breathing sped up as he leaned over her. Now his tip was at her entrance and he pushed himself into her thrusting in and out of her. He was bigger than she had expected, but she soon grew used to him, and she knew he was made for her and only her as she began to feel intense pleasure hit her entire body. Naomi moaned and rocked with each thrust, her aroused scent almost too much for him. His breathing sped up with hers as he thrust faster and harder. She squeezed her eyes closed and moaned his name.

"Naomi... you feel so... oh my god..." Kouga moaned into her neck, his hot breath running over her neck.

Naomi was almost overwhelmed with pleasure she could barely hold herself up anymore. One of her elbows gave in and Kouga caught her. He moved his hand up to her ribs and held her up. He pushed into her a few more times and then one final time, releasing himself into her, crying out what she could swear was her name. Naomi's body shuddered and went near limp in his hands. Kouga bit the back of her neck, beads of blood dripped down her shoulder. He pulled out of her and let her lay down gently. Naomi turned over and looked up at her lover. He laid down on top of her, his head coming down just below her breasts. He kissed her stomach gently and looked up at her.

"You're trembling," Naomi noticed, almost breathless.

"I'll be fine," he said with a smile and kissed her again.

Naomi suddenly felt a small pain in her shoulder. What the hell? "I think something bit me," Naomi said, looking around for bugs.

"On your shoulder?" Kouga asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" she asked, placing her hand on the bite. She felt the two puncture wounds and immediately recognized them as fang marks. Kouga bit her.

"I bit you. It's to mark you as my mate."

"I thought you already did that," she said, running her fingers through his hair.

"I clamed you as my woman, not my mate." Kouga kissed her gently and asked, "Didn't you want to bathe?"

"Oh, yeah... I completely forgot about it." she said

"Glad I can take your mind off things. Mind if I..." he kissed her again and continued, "... join you?"

Naomi reached behind her and grabbed their clothes, the shampoo, soap and the two extra blankets. "Please," she begged. She passed Kouga his clothes and a blanket. Kouga took them and stood up. He helped Naomi up as well and wrapped the blanket around his waist. Naomi wrapped the blanket under her arms. Then she moved to Kouga and wrapped her arm around his waist. Kouga passed his clothes to her and out of reflex, she reached out to grab them. Kouga picked her up honeymoon-style as he usually did and started walking away from the den and the river.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asked confused. "I thought we were going to go clean up?"

"There's a spring a little ways in this direction," Kouga explained. "And you're probably too tired to walk."

"You were the one trembling a little while ago," Naomi argued.

"I've got youkai strength. You however are human. Your body can't take as much as mine."

We'll see, Naomi thought to herself. She smiled and snuggled against his bare chest as she recalled the past hour or so. How he was gentle, like he didn't want to hurt her, but rough at the same time. She looked up into his eyes and into the two beautiful pools of blue. They were calm and gentle, and he looked so peaceful, like he made her feel. Not only that, but she felt safe in his arms. So relaxed, so peaceful... she could just... fall asleep...

"Naomi... Naomi, wakeup." She awoke to Kouga's calm voice. "We're here." Once he was sure she was awake, he set her down on her feet. She set the clothes and the soap, save the shampoo, down by a rock and took a look around. They were in a forest now, the full moon reflecting in a steaming pool. A few boulders surrounded the pool and there were also a few in it.

Kouga took off the blanket and looked at Naomi. "Coming?" he asked with an outstretched hand. Naomi removed her blanket and took his hand. He lead her into the spring, right to the middle where the moon reflected.

Naomi flicked off the top of the shampoo, but before she could pour any into her hand, Kouga took it from her.

"What are you--" she stopped as he poured the shampoo into his hands, set the bottle down on a nearby boulder and started rubbing them together.

"Oh," she realized, ducking her hair into the water.

When she came back up, Kouga started running his now soapy hands through her hair, giving her the scalp massage she gave him earlier. He worked from her temples back to the back of her neck, gently rubbing his fingers in circles. Naomi closed her eyes and enjoyed the massage, absently moaning with pleasure.

"You like that?" he asked with a smile. Naomi giggled a bit as a response. "I'll take that as a yes."

Kouga massaged until her entire head was soapy. Then, holding her up by her back, he dipped her head back into the water to rinse her hair free of the soap. He pulled her back up and she finally opened her eyes.

"You are the most amazing person I've ever met," Naomi said as she wrapped her fingers around his penis. She gave him a slight squeeze. He almost jumped at the sudden action, but he relaxed and let her have her way. He wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her close. "You're sweet."

"No really. You're absolutely amazing. You're everything I've ever wanted." she said, as she started pumping her hand over him, slowly at first. "Let me thank you..." she said, lowering her tone an octave as she began to pump faster.

Closing his eyes, Kouga rested his head on her shoulder and moaned helplessly into her neck. "God, Naomi," he cried, his hot breath rolling over her neck.

She giggled a bit. "Does it feel good..?" she asked, pumping even faster.

He whimpered at the change of speed, and held tighter to her.

She stood there pleasuring him for a moment, listening to his short breaths, feeling his warm breath across her neck... Then, looking for a way to help him climax, Naomi looked down at his neck. She got an idea. She growled and said as dirty as she could "You're so sexy I could pleasure you forever and never get tired. You're getting me _so_ hot right now."

Just as she had hoped, Kouga released into the water, whimpering in pure bliss. Naomi brought her arms around his waist to help him stand. His legs were, for the second time that night, failing him.

"You're welcome," he said, in between rapid breaths.

It took Naomi a second, but then she got it and smiled, nuzzling against the head still resting on her shoulder. "I love you," she whispered and began nibbling on hi earlobe.

"I love you too," he said, not in a whisper but in more of just a lowered tone.

"Can you stand?" she asked, beginning to loosen her grip around him.

"I don't know," he said, unwrapping his arms from her. He took a step back and looked into her eyes and smiled.

"I guess so, huh," Naomi said, taking his hand and leading him to a boulder she had noticed earlier that was about a foot under the water. She helped him sit down and then she came up beside him. She wrapped one hand around his muscular arm and leaned on the other as she gently placed kisses up and down his arm.

"Playful, aren't we?" Kouga asked, aroused at how she could never tire from pleasuring him.

"You want a turn?" Naomi asked, sliding her hand down his arm to his hand. She stopped kissing him and stood up. Kouga sat Indian-style and Naomi got in his lap, wrapping her legs around the back of him. "Then, here. I'm yours."

Kouga laughed at her bluntness but then brought his lips to hers and gently kissed her.

"All mine?" he teased.

"Yours for the taking, you animal," Naomi said, licking along his jaw line.

Recalling how his claws made her feel, Kouga brought his hands around behind her and rubbed them up and down her back. Naomi giggled and said, "Ah, you remember my weakness."

"Yes. I know my prey's weakness, and I will use it to my advantage." Kouga said, acting like he was on the hunt. "Do you know how I catch my prey?" he asked her.

"Your claws?" she asked, enjoying him tickling her back with his claws.

"You catch on quick... actually, I usually bite the neck, but since you like my claws better, we'll go with that, but do you know what I do after that?"

"There's not telling."

"I overpower them, using my body to pin them down," he said, pulling her close to him and holding tight.

"What next, Wolf Boy?" she asked anxiously, wrapping her hands around his shoulders.

"I slit them open, right here," he said, drawing a claw from between her breasts, across her stomach and to her bellybutton. Normally, she would find nothing romantic about slaughtering some animal, but in this case, she found it incredibly racy.

"You're very strong, however. It will be more difficult to bring you down. You must be tasty." Kouga brought his hands around her butt and lifted her up so his tip was at her entrance.

"Again?" she asked almost surprised he wasn't too tired.

"Unless you're still tired from before..." he wondered, privately hoping that wasn't the case.

"No. Actually, I was thinking you might be too tired," Naomi explained.

"Demonic power is a nice thing," he said simply before standing up, Naomi's legs and arms still wrapped around him so she was easier to lift. He turned and sat her on the boulder, both smiling all the while.

Naomi leaned back, resting on her elbows, and brought her legs from behind him and up so they were resting on his shoulders, he taking a hold of her thighs. Kouga began thrusting in and out of her slowly, but hard and deep. Naomi moaned and rocked back and forth with reach thrust, creating little ripples in the steaming water. Naomi leaned her head back, dipping her hair back into the water, and closed her eyes.

Kouga's sensitive ears picked up Naomi's heartbeat over her moans. He wanted to make it beat faster. He bit his lower lip, squeezed his eyes shut, and started thrusting faster, but kept his strength. Just as he wanted, her heart sped up, and her breaths got more short and gruff and he knew she was about to climax, which was fine with him, because her scent, her short, raspy breaths, and the friction she was creating on him were bringing him to yet another great climax as well. He released into her with another little whimper just as her body shuddered in ecstasy. They were in sync with one another, heartbeats beating at the same sped up pace. Kouga leaned slightly on Naomi, doing all he could not to fall over.

Naomi, feeling the same way, wanted to help him ashore so he could lay down, but knew she would fall into the spring before he did, so she let him lean there.

A few moments later, Naomi lowered her legs and quickly sat up to catch Kouga if he were to fall. He didn't however. Instead, he kissed her forehead and went back to the shampoo on the boulder in the middle of the spring. "Wanna wash up now?" Kouga asked picking up the shampoo bottle. Naomi slid off the boulder and made her way over to him.

"Sure, I guess," Naomi said, "Let's just not let it go anywhere again."

"Why not?" he asked confused.

"I do actually want to get some sleep tonight," she explained.

"Oh, alright," he said grateful. "Just as long as it's not me."

"There is no way in the seven depths of hell that you could be the reason I didn't want to go again... unless you were too hurt or something. Then I might refuse." Naomi laughed at her statement and walked over to Kouga, taking the bottle from his hand. As if he'd ever be too hurt to have sex. She squeezed some shampoo into her hand and lathered it up by rubbing her hands. She started rubbing the soap into Kouga's hair, slowly running her pointer and middle fingers in small circles.

Then she remembered that Rusty liked getting scratched behind the ear and started wondering if Kouga might as well, being part wolf as he was. She massaged her fingers up to behind his ears so he wouldn't know she was going to do it. Then, she changed her massage to scratching. Kouga started whimpering in bliss. She really needs my claws, Kouga thought to himself.

"So you do like it," Naomi stated as he wrapped his arms around her waist and started nuzzling his nose in her neck. "Geez, Kouga, you're worse than Rusty," she said with a smile. She scratched behind his ears a bit longer and then let him free of his wonderful torture.

"And now I guess I know _my_ prey's weakness..." she started, repeating what Kouga said earlier. "I will use it to my advantage."

"You cannot be human," Kouga said pulling away from Naomi's neck.

"Why not?" she asked with a smile.

"How did you know that?" he asked, recalling her nails scratching his ears.

"If Rusty liked it, why wouldn't you, Wolf Boy?" she explained. "Now, c'mere. Let me finish washing your hair."

Naomi scrubbed his hair and helped him rinse it out, just as he had done for her. Then she took the shampoo bottle back to shore and traded it for the soap. Walking back to him, she lathered her hands up. She set the soap on the boulder and rubbed her hands over his body, paying special attention to his length and buttocks.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to do anything more tonight," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry. We're not," she confirmed and passed the soap to him. "Now you do me."

Kouga took it, smiling. Lathering, he rubbed the soap over Naomi's body. "You have a beautiful body, you know that?" he asked coming to her thighs.

Naomi smiled and giggled at the compliment, turning a little red.

He continued rubbing until she was covered neck down in the soap and they both ducked under the water to rinse themselves off.

"Hey, you know what? I have an idea," Naomi said as she grabbed the soap and shampoo, and headed for the shore.

"Hn?"

"We can be blood buddies," she said, holding up her hand. "My friends and I did it a few years ago to signify that we'd be friends forever. Maybe tonight, we can do it to signify that we'll be together forever."

"That's what mating's for," Kouga said with a smile.

"Well, yes. For wolves. For human, we usually get married, but since we aren't in the time period where we can get rings, not that either of us could afford one, we can be blood buddies."

"Okay. How do you do it?" he asked.

"Well, we'll need something to break our flesh," she said grabbing her blanket and passing his to him.

"What about my claws?" he offered.

"That'll work. Now all I gotta do is remember what to say. Of course, I'll have to tweak the words a bit, seeing as we're more than just friends... if I can even remember what to say..."

"Okay, but what are you supposed to do?"

"Oh, sorry. We sit together and slit our palms. Then we line up the two wounds and hold hands. Although, don't you think you've lost enough blood for today?" she asked, pointing to the wound the monster Bird of Paradise left on his right arm.

"I'll be fine." he said simply, wrapping the blanket around him.

"Alright."

Naomi sat down on a boulder and Kouga sat down after her so they were face-to-face. Naomi held out her palm.

"Right here," she said, drawing an imaginary line across the middle of her palm. Kouga brought his claw to her palm as Naomi watched, but he didn't move.

Naomi looked up at him confused. He was still looking down at her palm, but he had a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked up at her almost startled. "I don't want to hurt you..." he explained.

"You won't," she said, trying to convince him. "I've done this seven times."

But he still didn't move. "Look," she said taking his hand, extending one of his claws. "You won't hurt me," she said, bringing the claw to her palm. She slowly dug the claw in a line over her palm, wincing only a little when it hurt so Kouga wouldn't worry. When she was satisfied with the cut and her palm filled with her blood, she let go of Kouga's hand. "Your turn," she said, squeezing her wrist to slow the blood flow.

The sharp scent of blood filled Kouga's nose. It was going to drive him nuts to see his woman sit there and bleed, so he quickly cut himself so they could get this over with and stop her from bleeding.

"Okay, now give me your hand," she said and Kouga did as he was told. She took his wrist and held his hand up, placing hers up to his, lining up the two wounds. She laced her fingers through his to hold their hands together more tightly and Kouga did the same out of reflex.

"Since this is to seal us as more than friends, do you think we should kiss or something?" Kouga asked.

"Yeah," Naomi guessed, "since I can't remember the words anyway." Kouga hooked his available finger under her chin and brought them together for the kiss. "I love you," Naomi whispered.

"I love you, too."

Naomi removed her hand and stared down at the blood covering it. She noticed a lot of it was darker than her own and figured it must have been Kouga's youkai blood.

"Let's wash up," she offered. "The scent of blood is bothering you, huh."

"Only because it's yours," he said simply.

They both went over to the spring and washed up. Naomi slowly put her hand in the water, hissing in pain as the cut went in.

Kouga looked at her concerned. "You okay?" he asked.

Naomi took a second to respond, getting used to the water. "Fine," she said, relaxing as the pain vanished. She watched her blood leaking into the water and spreading out until she couldn't see it. She grabbed her wrist and held her thumb over the veins to slow the bleeding. Kouga did the same until both their bleeding stopped. Naomi pulled her hand out of the water and wiped it on the blanket around her. Kouga pulled his hand out and shook it free of water.

He walked over to Naomi's side and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Wanna head back?" he asked.

Naomi agreed and they turned for the den.


	6. A Deadly Trap

Chapter Six

A Deadly Trap

Naomi woke up to the sound of the waterfall. It echoed the cave walls, seemingly louder than normal. She also noticed the musky guy smell was stronger than normal... actually, she hadn't noticed it before. It could have been the fact that Kouga was right behind her, but she would have noticed the same smell when she woke up last night. She quickly looked at the waterfall to see if it was night or day. It was day now.

Kouga's arm was once again draped over her waist. She turned to face him and saw him sleeping, the same peaceful expression that she saw last night there again, but somehow, he managed to look more self-satisfied, than before, even in his sleep. She smiled and cuddled against his bare chest, unfortunately waking him up.

"Morning," he said in a lowered tone.

She looked up at him startled. "I didn't know you were awake," she said with a smile.

"Just woke up," he said simply.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your..." he trailed off and his gaze drifted away from her face.

"What?" she asked.

Kouga lifted his hand up to her ear and rubbed the tip of it. Naomi moaned in pleasure and then giggled at his approach.

"Naomi, can we stand up?" he asked, starting to get up.

She raised an eyebrow and followed him up. "Shouldn't we go out?"

"We're not going to do anything right now," he said seriously.

"Then what the hell are you doing?" she asked utterly confused.

"Just wait," he said and took her by the shoulders and turned her around.

"What the hell?" she said again. She felt Kouga lift something up to her. She turned just so she could see it and her jaw dropped. She grabbed the fuzzy thing from Kouga's hand and yelped from pulling it. "I have a tail?!" she screamed astonished, waking some of the wolf youkai. What the hell did he do to me, she wondered to herself, not mad, but wondering how it could have happened.

"Your ears are pointy, looks like your hair got darker too... and I'll bet you've got fangs." Kouga ventured.

Naomi ran her tongue over her teeth and sure enough, she had fangs. "Yup," she said simply. "Okay, what could have made me..." she trailed off, not sure how to explain it. "Anyway... well, we did..."

"I don't think doing that would have anything to with it. Hey. Your eyes have changed too. They've got a lighter blue in them, like mine... That's it!" he exclaimed.

Naomi looked away from her newly formed tail up to him. "What's it?" she asked, still completely lost.

"Me. My blood. I did this to you. Last night when we did that blood thing. My blood must have manifested in you."

Recalling the claws used to cut their palms, Naomi looked down at her nails. She had claws now, too. She also looked at the cut... or where it had been. It was gone now.

"Hey, Kouga," Hakkaku called. Kouga turned to look at him. "I could be out of line for saying this... What the hell'd you do to her?" he asked.

"He didn't do anything. It was my idea," Naomi defended her lover.

"Yeah, but it was my blood," he argued.

"Okay, so it was both our faults," she compromised. "Either way, it could be an advantage, like if we ever have to battle anything like those Birds of Paradise?"

"You've got a point," Kouga pondered.

"Okay. Now can we go out and run around or something. I'm not used to having this much energy and I think it would be a good idea to run some of it off."

Kouga laughed at her urgency and then agreed. Naomi immediately started for the waterfall followed by Kouga. Reaching the ledge, Naomi prepared to jump but then had a second thought.

"Need me to--"

"No," she said, cutting him off. "I-I wanna do this." Naomi swallowed her nervousness and jumped, landing perfectly on her feet. "Ha! Take that, gravity," she said, stomping her foot on the ground.

Kouga jumped gown beside her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked, Naomi bursting out laughing. "F-fine," she managed to say. She took a breath and stopped herself from laughing. "Race you," she said playfully, knowing all too well that he could easily outrun her, but she also knew he wouldn't try to beat her.

"You can't beat me," he said, getting in a running stance. Naomi did the same.

"I know, but I don't care. I wanna run. That's all I want to do." Naomi smiled at him with a look of playful determination and he did the same back at her. "Ready?" she asked, Kouga responding with a simple nod. "Go!" she yelled, taking off to god only knew where. She ran through the woods, Kouga at her side.

She never imagined running could feel so good. She felt so alive, so free. The wind toying with her hair, her heart pumping, a smile slowly spreading across her face. There was of course the mile run that she had to do for gym every year for a grade, but she always got tired and annoyed with it. But this... this was amazing. She felt like she could run for hours, especially because Kouga was there with her. She was free as the wind. She felt as if she wasn't just running through the woods, but flying as well. Her spirit had taken flight. Nothing could upset her now. She let a content giggle pass her lips. Kouga heard her and looked at her, smiling when he saw her laughing in contentment.

Naomi slid to a halt at the base of the waterfall, watching as Kouga did so himself.

"Well, that was fun," she said still smiling.

"Get rid of enough energy?" he asked, heading for the river for a drink of water. He kneeled down and started scooping water up in his hands and drinking it down.

Taking a deep, peaceful sigh, Naomi walked up behind her lover. Naomi kneeled down behind him and wrapped her arms around his lower waist, hanging her hands so there was a slight weight on his lap. Kouga stopped drinking then.

"I don't know, but I know what might do the trick..." she ventured. She leaned over and started nibbling and kissing the crook of his neck. Moaning with pleasure, Kouga leaned his head back over Naomi's shoulder and placed his hand on her neck, pulling her closer, begging her to be rougher. Licking up to his jaw line, she obliged. Her dominance aroused him, and Naomi could smell it almost instantly. Wanting to get closer, Kouga turned to her, her mouth staying on his neck and jaw until the last possible minute. He lifted her head up to his mouth and captured her lips in his as he wrapped his tail around her to bring her closer.

He pulled away briefly to respond. "Now's probably not the best time," he said, just now hearing the 'wolf' whistles from Hakkaku. Naomi then heard it, too. The two looked up at him annoyed, but then back at each other, more peacefully.

Kouga and Naomi stood up and Kouga took her in his arms, embracing her. Naomi wrapped her arms around him as well. "I love it when you hold me like this," Naomi said smiling. Kouga brushed his lips against her forehead. Naomi pushed her hips against him, wanting to be closer. "You make me feel protected... and for once in my life, loved. When I'm here with you, nothing can hurt me, nothing can upset me... just as long as you're holding me..." Naomi trailed off and placed a kiss on his collarbone.

Kouga smiled and held her tighter. He loved that he could make her feel that way just by holding her.

"I love you, and I love being here with you.," she said.

"I feel the same way with you," Kouga said, his hot breath rolling over her shoulder.

Naomi took a quick look up at Hakkaku and looked back at Kouga smiling. "Oh, let him watch," she said and pulled Kouga down, catching his lips in hers.

Suddenly, they heard two men walking down one of the paths to their den and they looked up and over in that direction. Sure enough, two Northern wolves were coming their way.

"Let's see what this is all about," Kouga said, unwrapping his arms and taking her hand.

Kouga sat down against the wall of the cave, Naomi following. She put her hand on his upper arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Rusty came and sat down by her and she scratched him on the head briefly, but then pulled her hand away. The two Northern wolves came and sat down in front of them.

"There's someone who possesses a huge sacred Jewel Shard," the larger wolf youkai said.

"He's a lord of a castle. I know it's hard to believe, but we're not joking about this guy," said the other.

"Let's combine forces and join the Northern and Eastern Tribes together. Then we can storm the castle. We'll take the Jewel Shard and divvy it up evenly."

"Well, Kouga. You wanna join us?"

"Sorry. Not interested," Kouga said simply.

"What?" the first one said in shock.

Naomi, too was in shock, but didn't show it. She didn't know much about the Sacred Jewel and all the pink little shards, but she knew Kouga wanted them and that it gave him strength.

"Why the hell not?" asked the other.

"I have something I have to take care of first, before I do anything else," Kouga said.

"I see. Well, no sense forcing the issue," the first one said, the two Northern wolves getting to their feet.

"He's got an injury. Do you see that?" the second one said to the first in a lowered tone, so Naomi and Kouga couldn't hear. However, their sensitive ears picked it up anyway.

Naomi worried that Kouga was going to loose his temper on the two, but thankfully he didn't.

"You sure you want to turn them down, Kouga?" one of wolves from their tribe asked.

"If we don't join them, the Northern tribe will get all of the Jewel Shard," another one of the wolves said

"Let them go. It doesn't matter," he said. Naomi picked up a lot of depression in his voice and she started to worry about him. He hadn't told her anything.

"Well it matters to me. I'm gonna go with them."

"Me too."

"Go ahead. I could care less," Kouga said, lying through his fangs. He placed a hand over the little one on his upper arm, as if for support. "If you wanna leave, I'm not going to stop you."

Naomi looked up at him deeply worried about him. Just as he didn't like to see her cry, she didn't like to see him so distraught. "Oh, Kouga," she said under her breath. No one caught it.

"We're gonna go with the Northern Tribe," one of them yelled to the tribe.

"If you want a piece of the Sacred Jewel you better come with us," yelled the other.

The two ran out of the cave, followed by over half of the clan.

Naomi watched as Kouga looked down at the gash in his arm.

"Kouga, come here," Naomi said, taking Kouga into a loose embrace. "Tell me what's wrong," she said gently, running her claws over his toned arm to calm him. "I don't like seeing you this way..."

"My brothers would rather go with the Northern tribe than to stay with me while I work on getting my shard back from that damn hanyou," he explained, angered.

"Oh, Kouga. They don't know what the hell they're doing. Besides, some of them stayed, like Ginta and Hakkaku. They're the ones you can count on. And you know I'd never leave your side."

Kouga bent his legs so he was sitting Indian-style and sat Naomi in his lap. "Thanks," he said, pulling Naomi up he could kiss her. It was light and gentle. "Any time," she replied. But his brows furrowed again.

"But they reminded me that I need to go and find that hanyou son of a bitch and get my Jewel Shard back."

Naomi stood up and extended a hand to help him up too.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We're gonna go get your shard back."

Kouga smiled and gave her his hand, standing up. "Thank you." Naomi nodded and they headed for the waterfall and back outside again.

Kouga and Naomi ran through the forest, following InuYasha's disgusting scent, Kouga going slow so Naomi could keep up. However, it started to rain and Naomi stopped, looking up at the sky.

"What? Kouga asked, sliding to a stop a few feet ahead of her.

"My shirt," she said simply. Kouga looked down at the shirt, a white tank top, plain. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong with it, it started raining harder and he could see through it. She didn't have a bra on either. Kouga raised his brows and smiled. "You wanna go back for a different shirt?" he asked.

"No. We can stay in a tree until this lets up and by then, it should be dry."

"Okay," Kouga said simply before taking her in his arm and jumping up in the nearest tree. It was well covered, so they didn't get wet, and there were huge branches so both of them could fit on one. Kouga sat down on one and Naomi sat down in his lap, leaning on his chest.

Kouga didn't waste any time in getting her shirt off. "You don't want to get sick, do you?" he made an excuse.

"Fine, but you take off your armor, too. It's cold against my shoulder."

"Sorry," he said and took that off too, putting them on the branch beside him. "Good now?" he asked.

"Very good," she said cuddling against his chest. "And now that we have some privacy, where were we?" she asked referring to just after the morning run, placing a few kisses on his chest.

"About here, only more clothed," he said, pulling her up for a kiss.

"Yeah, well, I like it here better," she said when they pulled away.

"Me too," he said, wrapping his arms around her, knowing how she liked it. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and then rested his head on hers. "I think I like the rain," Kouga said.

"Me too," she said. Naomi started placing little kisses over his chest.

Kouga started running his claws over her arm. Naomi stopped kissing and put her hand on his chest, lying her head back down. "I love you so much," Naomi whispered.

"I love you, too." He took a deep breath, taking in her heavenly scent. He kissed the top of her head and lying his head back down, he finally noticed it. Her scent had changed slightly. As he tried to figure out why, a huge smile spread across his face. Why didn't he notice before? Oh well. That didn't matter. Her safety was all that mattered now...

He held her closer, wanting her to be as safe as possible. Nothing was going to hurt her.

They waited for what seemed like hours, but the rain didn't let up. The two finally decided to head back. Naomi rode on Kouga's back so no one could see her. She had gotten a lot more modest since she had become Kouga's. She wanted her body to be his and his only.

By the time they got back, it was night, and the rain was stopping. Kouga let Naomi off at the bed and brought her bag over to her, not wanting to overwork her. Thanking him for the service, Naomi shed her wet shirt and pulled dry clothes from her bag. To their luck, Ginta and Hakkaku were both outside on guard duty, so she could get dressed without an audience--other than Kouga. She then went to go get a blanket and Kouga went and put her backpack where he had found it. Ceasing her opportunity Naomi snuck up on Kouga and jumped on his back with the blanket.

"What the hell are you doing?" he laughed.

"Drying you off," she answered simply, rubbing his shoulders and his chest from behind.

"Don't hurt yourself," he said.

She got off his back and she started down his sides. "Oh, please," she said with a smile.

He turned to face her so she could get to his front. "The boys are outside," she said lowering her voice an octave. She stopped toweling him and stood up, starting kissing the droplets of water off his chest. Kouga hooked an index finger under her chin and tilted her head up, pulling her away from his chest. He looked lovingly into her eyes, gently smiling, silently telling her he loved her before catching her lips in his. He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her waist, the other one tangling in her hair.

Suddenly, he pulled away. "Naomi, I've got some really good news," he started, a toothy smile spreading across his face, a real wolf-grin.

"What's that?" Naomi asked.

"You're--" he stopped suddenly when they heard Hakkaku scream from outside and the two looked at each other in horror. They took off for the waterfall.

"What's the matter?" Ginta asked waking up. He immediately saw the wolf youkai in front of Hakkaku. "What's wrong with him?"

"Didn't he go with the Northern Tribe?" Hakkaku asked.

Kouga and Naomi ran up then. "What happened? What's wrong?" Kouga asked to the wolf who had just come back.

"I was only able to get one," he said, holding out his hand.

"You got a Sacred Jewel Shard," Kouga said in shock.

"Hurry to the castle, Kouga. If you don't, everyone will be slaughtered."

"Naomi, Stay here with them," Kouga said.

"No. I'm coming with you," she demanded.

He passed almost a worried glance at her. "No. I want you out of danger." He took off then. He leaped up the cliff, following the scent of his comrades. A Jewel Shard, he thought. I'll but it to good use. Kouga shoved the Shard into the gash in his right arm and continued running.

What was that look about, she wondered to herself.

"Come inside and rest," Hakkaku offered to the injured wolf youkai.

"You're amazing. How'd you make it back with all of those injuries?" Ginta asked, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. He fell apart then, the cuts apparently straight through his body. Foam and blood were everywhere.

Hakkaku, Ginta and Naomi screamed. "What the..?" Hakkaku said.

"He's dead," stuttered Ginta.

"Kouga..." Naomi said under her breath. "You guys stay here." Naomi said to Ginta and Hakkaku. "I'm going after Kouga," she said, taking off up the mountain.

"Wait, Naomi!" Ginta called after her, but she was gone.

Reaching the castle, Kouga leapt on the roof and peered down on the grounds. His men and that of the Northern tribe were covering the ground dead, but in the middle of them all, InuYasha stood, covered in their blood.

"InuYasha!" Kouga yelled, rage coursing through him.

"That's Kouga from the Youkai Wolf Tribe," the monk stated, but Kouga was fixed on InuYasha.

"InuYasha. How dare you do this!" Kouga yelled.

"Before you jump to conclusions, your pals here were already dead by the time I got to the castle," InuYasha defended.

"Shut up! You can't lie to me! You're covered head to foot in their blood!"

The hanyou looked down at his blood soaked hands and flexed his claws.

"Kouga!" called Kagome. "You're wrong! We came here looking for a youkai named Naraku and we found the Wolf Tribe slaughtered. But then they came to life and started attacking us, but they weren't really alive, they were zombies."

"Don't you even try and protect that cur. 'Already dead when you got here,' how stupid do you think I am you blood thirsty mutt?" Kouga locked eyes with InuYasha, growling, blood boiling. He wasn't going to forgive him for this. That mutt was as good as dead as far as he was concerned.

Kouga leapt off the roof, a fist aimed at InuYasha. He dodged it, but he Kouga was right back on his heals. He punched again, a huge ray of light lighting around him, headed at InuYasha, unfortunately, once again he dodging it.

"You get your strength back, Kouga? I see you've managed to find another Jewel Shard for your arm," InuYasha said.

"You stole my original Jewel Shard the last time we met, but I warn you. This one's even better." Kouga threatened. He let out a low grow.

Kouga started throwing punches at InuYasha again when Kagome spoke up again. "Stop it, Kouga. I want you listen to me. Please. This whole thing's a trap. InuYasha didn't kill your friends. It was somebody else."

"Shut up," Kouga yelled, increasingly enraged at how much they denied slaughtering his kin. "Words are cheep. I believe what I see with my own eyes."

"Kouga!" Kagome yelled.

"Forget about it Kagome. The guy's got a block of wood for a brain so he can't grasp anything too complicated," InuYasha said. "There's no reasoning with the moron. The only thing he understands is a few punches in the head."

"The Wolf Youkai Tribes live in packs and cherish their comrades like family," the little fox noted. "Seeing so many of his brothers dead all at once would make him insane with grief."

"I thought he might listen to you, Kagome, but I was wrong. He's too far gone," said the monk.

"You can't blame InuYasha for fighting back," said the youkai hunter. "He has to defend himself against Kouga's attacks.

Kouga noticed InuYasha looking around him and took the opportunity to attack. "Pay attention if you wanna live," he warned. "What the hell are you looking at, coward?" Kouga lunged for InuYasha again. He came close to hitting him that time, but missed.

Naomi was so close to the castle she could practically taste the blood. The scent surrounded her, overwhelmed her. What looked like lightning struck nearby in the direction the scent of blood was coming from. The ground was also shaking a little bit. "Oh, Kouga. Please be okay..."

Kouga chased InuYasha onto the roof. He lunged at InuYasha again, but when he dodged him this time, it made him put a hole in the roof. InuYasha was on the ground now. Kouga peered down at him and once again got a sight of his tribe dead on the ground. If any rage had been lost, it was renewed then. "That filthy mutt. You won't live to regret this!" Kouga yelled, jumping off the roof, chasing after InuYasha again. He punched every time he got a chance, but the mutt dodged every one barely. Kouga placed one strong punch, sending a ray of power straight at the small fox, the neko youkai, and the human girl. The Neko moved them out of the way before it hit, however.

"Kagome! Stay away from her!" InuYasha warned.

"Your fault for trying to escape. If your girl's hurt, it should be on your head." Kouga said.

"He intends to fight me to the death," InuYasha said, putting a hand on Tetsusaiga. "Naraku laid the trap, but Kouga's forged his own fate." He unsheathed the sword and said, "You've pushed me far enough. I'll take you on."

"Prepare to die," Kouga said raising his fist. "In the name of my comrades!" Kouga lunged for InuYasha once more and punched the sword out of his hand. In a desperate attempt to stay alive, InuYasha used his iron rebar, but poor aim made Kouga hit the side of his arm, shattering the bone. The turned to face each other again. "I'm afraid I scratched you in passing," Kouga said with a wicked smile, and he held up his fist again. InuYasha put his opposite hand on his arm in pain.

Kouga went for him again. InuYasha tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough. He got a good punch in the face. He punched again, missed, so he kicked him to get him down. InuYasha fell into a roll.

Kouga jumped into the air as high as he could. "This will finish you," he said with the same smile. He came down on the hanyou hard, a fist to the gut. "Revenge is mine!" he yelled as InuYasha screamed in agonizing pain. He was down.

"At last. That murderer is dead," he said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kouga saw a woman headed straight for him. He turned to face her. "Name yourself," he commanded.

"Well done, Wolf Boy. With the score settled, you are able to die without any regrets."

"What do you want from me?" Kouga asked.

"My name is Kagura. I will see that you have one final dance." The woman raised her fan and opened it.

Suddenly, his tribe rose to their feet, eyes glowing red.

"What's the meaning? My men were dead. Why do they rise again?" Kouga asked himself.

"To attend your final dance," Kagura said simply. "It would _kill_ them to miss it."

"You sorceress. Was it you, then, who slaughtered my men?" Kouga questioned, rage refilling him.

"Ooh, I wonder. It must have slipped my mind." With a wave of her fan, three of the zombie wolves flew down to attack Kouga, but, leaping into the air, he punched them out of the way. "I'll kill you, sorceress," Kouga warned, heading down do slug the wind witch. Suddenly, a searing pain hit him in his right arm and he stopped short, staggering, and he fell to his haunches. I can't move, he thought. What's happening to me?

"The Jewel Shard in your arm has finally released its poison. Now it's time for you to die." Kagura said, raising her fan.

Naomi ran into the castle doors and looked at the sight. All of the wolves that had gone to get the Shard from here were dead. There were the people she had met during the fight against the Birds of Paradise, and someone new. She had a fan and was facing off with Kouga. She swept her fan through the air and ten or twelve blades came out of nowhere headed for Kouga.

"Kouga, move!" she yelled, heading for him at a run, but he didn't. He was hit, his dark youkai blood pooling from the cuts. He fell to the ground and Naomi ran between the two, her arms out to the sides, trying to block another attack.

"Naomi, what the hell are you doing?" Kouga asked. "Get the hell out of here."

"No!"

Kagura laughed. "You are unable to move. That Sacred Jewel in your arm is an imitation made from a crystallized poison in the paralyzing miasma. That leaping around made your blood pump faster and sped up the spread of the poison."

"Wench!" Kouga yelled at her.

"Damn you!" Naomi said.

"Now that you're paralyzed I'll help myself to your true Jewel Shards."

"Not while I'm--" Naomi started, but stopped when she saw an arrow flying at Kagura. She waved her fan and some of the dead wolves flew in the way of the arrow. They were hit and disintegrated, a huge burst of light nearly blinded them. It was Kagome.

"So. That must be the sacred arrow," Kagura said, turning and waving her fan at the girl. The same blades that came at Kouga came at the girl, the hut she was on collapsing. However, the Neko Youkai caught her and flew her to another roof before she was hit.

"Not very impressive. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to continue interfering." Kagura said.

"I won't let you hurt Kagome," said the hanyou rising to his feet. "I'm the one you should be coming after, not her."

"Still alive, are we now?" Kagura said, fan raised. "Wolf Boy. It appears you didn't finish the job."

Naomi turned and fell to her knees next to Kouga, not caring about the mud that now froze her legs. "InuYasha?" he muttered.

"You're kidding yourself if you think that puny wolf cub can do me in with his meager attack."

"Oh, please forgive me," she said, turning from Kagome to InuYasha. "Then you are up to a duel with me?"

"I'll take you on, but I warn you. You're not going to die quickly. Tainting me with the blood of the wolf youkai, and setting that fool on me was unforgivable. But even more infuriating, is the reek of Naraku that cloaks you."

"Naraku?" Kouga wondered out loud.

InuYasha readied his sword and continued. "Just the thought of that beast is enough to give me the strength to move my wounded body." And he lunged for her, but she was prepared with another blade of wind. She pushed him back easily.

"Kouga, are you okay?" Naomi asked, tears starting to stream from her eyes. "Oh, my God. Look at you," she said, brushing a stray hair out of his face.

"The Jewel was a fake. It was poison," he explained.

"I have to take it out," she said, moving a hand to his arm, but a barrier protected the foul shard and hurt her hand. "Dammit. There's a barrier. I can't get it out."

"Naomi, if I don't make it--"

"Dammit, Kouga, you're going to make it!" she commanded him. Putting her head on his, she continued. "For god sakes, what would I do without you?" Her tears started flowing even more freely.

The fight raged on beside them, but she paid no attention. She was really sure she was going to lose him. "You have too much to live for. You have to live, god dammit! You... you have to live to make up for those lost. And I need you to live. You're the only one who understands me... who loves me. You're the one who gives me something to live for. Do you know how many times I attempted suicide in the past two years? At least twice a month. But something kept me from doing that. Something told me that there was something waiting for me. Something wonderful... and now I've found you, and you can't leave me. You can't..."

"I'm sorry Naomi..."

"Don't think like that, dammit! You won't give up on me! Say it!"

"I... I won't give up on you, Naomi. I'm trying..."

"Kouga!"

Naomi sat up and looked over and noticed the battle coming to a slow as Kagura flew away like a coward. The castle began to disappear and the monk and the youkai hunter came out.

"Somebody help. Please," Naomi begged, trying to get their attention. It worked.

"Oh my gosh. Kouga! Naomi! Is he alright?" she asked, running and stopping beside her.

"His arm is changing color," the little fox noticed, and for the first time, Naomi did too, since she had her head down. "The poison from the counter-fit shard is spreading."

"What should we do? We've got to act fast or he'll die." She reached for his arm, but just as the barrier deflected Naomi's hand, it did hers.

"You can't touch him. The barrier around his arm is to fucking strong."

"Well we have to do something," Kagome said, determined.

InuYasha made his way over to the group, his sword swung over his shoulder.

"InuYasha," Kagome pleaded, looking for an answer.

"It seems we were both deceived by Naraku's scheme," he said. "If you can hand onto life, there is a way to save you," he said and raised his sword. "Hold out your arm. I will cut it and the counter fit jewel off."

"No! There has to be another way," Kagome said. "Don't just hack the guy's arm off, InuYasha."

"Wait a minute. We can't touch the poison's barrier, but Kagome, isn't the Sacred Arrow able to break the barrier?" The little fox kid was young, but very intuitive. Kagome pulled out an arrow and thrust it down on the barrier. Kouga grunted in pain as the shard was removed and disintegrated. His arm turned back to a normal color.

"Thank you," Naomi said quietly as her tears ceased.

"No problem," Kagome responded gently. "If you ever need anything, just let us know." The five walked away shortly after that, leaving Kouga and Naomi together.

"I'm sorry about leaving the den," Naomi said, raising Kouga's hand and gently kissing it.

"You're too loyal for your own good," he said, starting to get up. The wind however opposed, trying to knock him down. Naomi helped him up, she pulling his good arm over her shoulder and wrapping an arm around his waist. They started back for the den.

"I love you Kouga. That's why."

"I love you, too."

They walked for what felt like miles, but nothing seemed familiar. If Ginta and Hakkaku's scent weren't steadily getting closer, they could swear they were going in the wrong direction. Suddenly, Kouga, gave up, falling to his haunches and dragging Naomi down with him. A single tear fell and hit the ground.

"Kouga!" she exclaimed and moved in front of him.

"Kagura murdered my comrades," he said, another tear falling. "I swear, as you as my witness, I shall take her life with my own hands... and that of Naraku."

Naomi pulled him off his hands and wrapped her arms around him tightly, she herself beginning to cry. Kouga wrapped his arms around her desperately, wishing it had all been a bad dream. It wasn't however. It was all real.

Rain started to pour from the skies and the two wolves clung tighter to each other, tears flowing freely.

"I'm so sorry, Kouga. I wish I could make it all go away. Go back and prevent everything from--"

Kouga cut her off, catching her lips roughly in his. "It's not your fault. And I still have you," he said, and kissed her again, more gently this time. She held him tightly, wishing time would stop around them and they'd be set free of this nightmare, but no such thing would happen. "Kouga, please. Can we get out of the rain?"

"Sorry," he said, getting to his feet shakily. Naomi followed, and she went back to her place under his arm and they started trudging back to the den again.


	7. Secrets, Lies and Danger

Chapter Seven

Secrets, Lies and Danger

Naomi woke up freezing. They had to stop last night because of a combination of the heavy rain and Kouga's injuries, so they had found a place to stay overnight. It was a cave, but it was small and damp, and also very cold, unlike their den. She sat up fast when she realized Kouga's arm wasn't draped over her like it normally was. She looked to her side and there he was, sleeping on his stomach like a baby.

The poor guy was worn out from his battle with the wind sorceress. She closed in the few feet they had between one another and sat down Indian-style and stared contently at his sleeping face.

Now she remembered. He was too badly injured to sleep with her. She laid him down here and helped him with his armor since it was bothering all the gaping wounds up and down his frame. She sat and watched him until he had fallen asleep, and then still a little after, until she could no longer stay awake herself. He hadn't moved and inch since he lied down last night.

Naomi watched as his back went up and down from his steady breathing. Thank god he was still alive. She started running her nails gently up and down his back, avoiding his wounds. She was glad to finally see a peaceful expression on his face. Before she had fallen asleep, he looked pained, from his wounds as well as from loosing his brothers. Now it seemed he was finally sleeping calmly... or at least he was. She noticed a smile creeping across his face as she rubbed his back, his fangs starting to show.

Wondering if he was awake, she said, "Good morning, Kouga." He didn't answer. He was still asleep. She thought about waking him up so he would remember her running her claws over his back, but she didn't because she was worried his peaceful expression would be replaced by the one he wore last night.

She stopped rubbing his back and went to scratching behind his ear. He nuzzled against her hand and his smile grew wider. "Oh, Naomi," he moaned in his sleep.

"Yeah, baby?" she asked, experimenting to see if he could hear her.

"You have the touch of an angel," he responded.

"And it's all for you."

She scratched his ear and his neck for a few minutes before he said anything again.

"Naomi, it's freezing. Are you okay?"

"Fine, I guess. Are you okay?"

He didn't answer. He must have gone back into a deep sleep, but that was fine with her. He needed his rest. She took of her shirt and threw it over Kouga's back and kissed him gently on his temple. She sat back and watched him sleep like a watchdog, never taking an eye off him. She wasn't even sure she was blinking. But she wasn't going to fall back asleep again. Not now. She was going to make sure nothing was going to hurt him, whether it be the little bit of poison he had left running through him or some youkai.

"Naomi..." he murmured.

"Are you awake?" she asked, but with the expression he had had on his face for the past five or so minutes, she realized it was a dumb question.

"Tell me it was all a dream," he said, opening his eyes.

"I wish I could..." she said quietly. She wanted so desperately to make it all go away. "How are you feeling?"

Kouga started to push himself up on his elbows and let out a pained grunt.

"Kouga, don't try to get up," she said, putting an arm under his chest to make sure he wouldn't fall back down. Wanting nothing more than to hold him and make the world right again for him, she scooted closer and helped him turn over and against her. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she whispered in his ear, "I'm here for you."

Kouga turned his head so it was resting on her arm and pulled it closer so he buried his face. A single tear trickled down his cheek and then down her arm. "Our tribe has been practically wiped out..." he said painfully. "But..."

"'But' what?" she pushed.

"But it might not be completely gone."

"What do you mean?" she asked entirely lost.

"The good news I had earlier. Naomi, you're pregnant."

"What?! How do you know that?"

"Your scent has changed. I'm surprised you didn't notice... never mind. You can't smell your own scent... I was going to wait for a better moment to tell you, but I don't think we're going to get that moment."

"Oh, my God," she said simply, a smile creeping across her face. "Do you know how many?"

"I can't tell. We'll just have to wait."

"Kouga, this is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Oh, my God, I don't know what to say."

"How about 'I love you'?" he suggested, raising his hand to run it through her hair.

"I love you," she said kissing him on the top of his head.

"I love you too."

"I'm going to have to go home and get some stuff."

"I figured," he said simply.

"How soon do you think we can go back?"

"As soon as the last of the poison has worked itself out of my system."

"Then I'll ask again: How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," he said with a smile.

"Well, I know that," she said, remembering two nights ago.

After a long pause, Kouga spoke up again. "You're going to have to be more careful from now on."

"I know..." she said solemnly. "Wait, that's why you didn't want me to come with you last night."

"Yeah. I don't care if you can hold your own. I don't want to risk hurting the pups."

"Neither do I, but what are we going to do if we come across a youkai?"

"You won't be out in the open for a while, alright?"

"Kouga, I need exercise, and besides. Nine months is a long time to be stuck in hiding."

"Nine months? What are you talking about?"

"That's just how long it'll take before--"

"Naomi, you aren't human anymore. You're part wolf. It takes more like three."

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed. "...Oww..." she said and looked down at her stomach.

"I think we can go a little later today. How does that sound?"

"Fine."

Kouga and Naomi helped each other down the well and out. Kouga wrapped his arm over her shoulder and she wrapped her arm around his waist as they started down the path to the house. From here, Naomi could see that her mother's car, normally parked beside the house, was gone, so they could safely go inside. After all, she was supposed to be home two days ago.

They stepped inside the house and Naomi didn't hear the familiar sound of the alarm going off.

"That's funny. Mom didn't lock the door or set the alarm," she said.

"If your mom's doing something unusual, maybe we should get out of here quick. This doesn't feel right."

"I feel it too. Okay, why don't you help me so we can get out of her sooner."

"Okay."

"Upstairs there's a bookcase, you remember it. Where I got the black book? There's a book about pregnancy and on two shelves above that, there's a bunch of encyclopedias. Grab the 'W' edition. Go ahead and grab the one that says 'Basic Witchcraft,' too. Then in my room, grab a couple of pillows and head back down here. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

The two went their separate ways. In the kitchen, Naomi grabbed a few hundred dollars out of her family's emergency savings and went to the pantry and grabbed her mothers supply of chocolate, knowing she would be craving it later. Then she went to the closet in the hall and grabbed her book bag and dumped it right there, putting the chocolate and money in outside pockets.

Then Kouga came downstairs, his arms loaded with books and pillows. "Thanks," she said and stepped closer to him and put the book bag under his arms so he could drop it. "Let's get out of here. We need to go shopping for baby supplies." She threw her book bag on her back, took his hand and lead him to the front door, but stopped. "Wait. You need clothes. C'mon." she said and lead him up the steps to her brother's old room. Her mother had kept it the same way since she killed him, half expecting him to return.

Naomi went to the drawers and pulled out a pair of blue jeans, a black, sleeveless shirt, and a blue button up shirt to wear over it. Then socks and a pair of Etnies. "I think you're about my brother's size. If we're going out, I don't want to stand out too much so if my mother has the cops, the FBI, the mafia, whatever, out looking for us, maybe we'll be harder to find."

"Alright." he said simply as she passed him the clothes. She sat down on her brother's bed and waited for him to change, just as he had done for her the last time they were there... only she was enjoying it more than he had. Before, they barely knew each other, so it wasn't as good. Now they were mated, so it was almost like a strip tease for her, only he wasn't focusing his attention on pleasing her. He was more rushed.

Once he was changed, Naomi took a good look at him and smiled. "I think that'll work," she said smiling. "You look good in those clothes."

"Thanks," he said smiling back, but quickly wiped it off his face. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

Out the door, she went down the steps and onto the short paved path to the driveway. There, she stopped in horror. Her mother's car was parked right there, hidden from the back. Her mother had been in the house the whole time. Suddenly, from behind a large tree, two men wearing black suits and sunglasses that hid their eyes came and grabbed them both and cuffed them so neither of them couldn't get away, they throwing the book bag off in the process.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Naomi screamed at one of them.

"Your mother wanted you home, Naomi," the guy behind her said. Warning signals flashed in her mind and she recognized the voice, but she couldn't remember who it belonged to.

"Fine, I'm home! Now let us go!" she yelled and tried to free herself from the man's grip. However, he pulled a knife from his back pocket and put it to her neck and she froze, and suddenly, she realized who this guy was.

"Hey, mother fucker, get that knife the hell away from her!" Kouga yelled, baring his fangs. He kicked the guy holding her in the neck and he released her, disoriented. Naomi took the opportunity to get out of their reach. "Naomi run!" Kouga told her.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Just go, dammit!"

Remembering their children, she started to run for the well.

"James! Go the fuck after her!" yelled the guy holding Kouga to the one on the ground.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you function right after that guy hit you," he said taking off after Naomi.

"Naomi look out!" Kouga called and tried to get free of the man's grip, but he smacked him hard in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Naomi turned and looked behind her and she saw the rat bastard James following her; the same guy her father had bought drugs from, and then was killed by. "Shit!" She tried to run faster up the hill but it was hard with her hands behind her back.

"Naomi, get the fuck back here!" he called as she reached the well. She jumped in and she was free.

James trudged defeated back down the hill after searching the well.

"Did you find her?" the second man asked him.

"No. She got away," he said.

"Dammit, you know we won't get payment unless we get her home!"

"Hey, I'll do it, okay. I just need some time. That bitch is fast."

"Whatever. Just get him in the car," he said pointing to Kouga, unconscious, laying against the steps. "The military will pay big bucks for this guy."

Another tear fell down Naomi's face. She hadn't moved from the well. She knew full well that she could have saved the two of them, but she had run. But Kouga had ordered it. He was trying to protect her and their cubs... assuming it was more than one. Oh, excuses be damned! She was going back there. Naomi unlocked the cuffs using her claw like a lock pick and threw them off.

She went back through the well and ran to the front just in time to see the bastards drive away. "Kouga..."she muttered. Then she turned to the house. "Mother..." she said angrily.

Naomi burst through the door. And immediately went to her mother's safe in the next room and put in the combination. It unlocked with a click and she opened the door. The first thing she noticed was that one of the guns was missing. The Luger Pistol. The second, however, the S&W .357 Magnum, was there in its place. Her mother could never tell which one was more powerful.

She took the magnum, slammed the safe shut and stood up. "Mother!" she yelled and started searching the house. The first place she looked was the family room, where she had killed her brother, she found her.

"Please honey. There's no need to yell," she said as she took a swig of beer. Looking at the gun she had in her hand at her side, she continued, "Or violence."

"Mother, do you even know what the fuck you've done?"

"Of course."

"Then why the hell did you get that gang into this?"

"Oh, honey, they've been in it from the very beginning."

"What the hell are you talking about."

"Sit," she said, gesturing to the recliner with her beer bottle and took another swig. Naomi sat down and put her finger on the trigger, expecting her mother to pull hers at any second.

"The reason I remarried your father was to get him over here. I wanted him dead for what he did to you, so I found a local gang and struck a deal. Actually, they're in the mafia, but that doesn't make much difference. I'd pay them five G's if they got rid of him for me, so they came up with the idea. I told him about a good place to get his illegal drugs: that gang. I told them they were cheep, and a random, monthly price that wasn't even remotely close to the high price. Then all I had to do was wait. The poor bastard never was good at math either. When the end of the month payment rolled around, he couldn't pay up and they killed him on the spot. That was when I started acting like a nervous wreck. If I didn't, you see, you would have figured it out. However, your brother was smarter than you. He figured it out that day you were out at the mall, so I killed him and acted drunk when you got home. Stupidly enough," she laughed, "you covered for me when the cops got there." She took another swig of her beer.

"Damn you, mother." she said standing up. "You couldn't just seek revenge the normal way and call the cops? You knew what he did was illegal. What was wrong with just letting him rot in jail?"

"It would take too long."

"I hope one of them kills you," Naomi said coldly, heading for the door.

"They wont as long as I'm fucking their boss, but now you know too much. I'm going to have to kill you too." Her mother took aim, but before she could pull the trigger, Naomi, shot her in the wrist and ran. "I'll get you Naomi. You can run, but you can't hide!" she called as she ran out the door.

Naomi ran to the car ready to go after the mafia and stopped before she got in as she realized she had no idea where she was going. She couldn't make out his scent over the urban pollution, and she didn't know where they had taken him.

Just then, her mother ran out the door, shooting off the gun like mad. She pointed it straight at Naomi and shot another few bullets. She ducked behind the car before she was shot though. "Naomi!" her mother yelled.

"Tell me where they've taken him!" she yelled back as she shot from the hood of the car and ducked again.

"Let me take you to him," she said and shot again.

Fear rushed through her as she realized what she meant. They had killed him. No! She wouldn't believe that. "Tell me!" she yelled again, and shot at her yet again.

"Where do you think people take alien looking things?"

"Mother, incase you haven't noticed, I look like him too."

"Yes, but one specimen will be enough. You I just want dead."

Naomi went to take another shot and her mother pulled the trigger, too. She didn't miss. Naomi was shot in the ear, the tip blown off.

"The military's got him, don't they," she said, ducking behind the car, finally realizing.

"They pay the most."

Naomi pulled out from behind the car and quickly shot her mother in both of her legs. She fell to the ground, dropping the gun. Naomi ran up to her and grabbed the gun before she could. "Oh, and by the way, mother, congratulations. You're a grandmother, and what a grandmother you'd make."

"Dammit, I knew you were fucking him!"

"So what?! You're fucking James!"

"And Sykes. Just in case, you know?"

"Mother, you're fucking drunk. Why don't you try going sober. Maybe then you'll realize how damn stupid you've been all your life."

"Oh, just shut up and shoot me, Naomi."

"You think I'm going to shoot you? No, mother, I'm not like you. Killing a bunch of people isn't what makes me happy. It doesn't solve my problems. Now if you don't mind, I'm going off to save my love."

"You called him that just to make me mad."

"So what if I did?"

"They're going to get you, Naomi. They basically do what I say now. They'll find you and kill you. You won't be running for long," she called as her daughter went back to the car.

"I'll call you on that one after I shoot a couple holes through their heads." Naomi got in the car and drove down the driveway, headed for the military base two miles away.

Kouga woke up with a headache. The blinding lights in his face and the white room weren't helping. His hearing, sense of smell and sight felt like they had been amplified twenty fold. All of it was killing his head. What happened? He tried to sit up when he realized he had been strapped down. His neck, his waist, his wrist and ankles, he couldn't move.

Suddenly he realized how much his body hurt. He felt as if someone had cut him up into a million pieces. Maybe that was just from the battle from Kagura... But as he started to remember what happened, he knew it wasn't from yesterday's fight.

Scenes flashed through his mind; Naomi and he getting captured and her getting away, being knocked unconscious, a dark place, the cold table, the sharp knives... Naomi! What happened to her. Did she get recaptured, or had she been able to escape?

Just then, he heard the metal door open. A man in a white coat walked in, closing the door behind him. "Let's see what we have here today... Oh, my god he's awake!" he exclaimed and spoke into some device on his wrist. "I need some backup in C17. Repeat, backup in room C17!" The man stepped against the wall and pulled out a metal device and pointed it at him, sliding towards the door.

Naomi sped into the base's parking lot and got out, pulling on a jacket, noticing two guards by the door. She put her guns in the inside pockets on either side. She was going to blow the whole damn place up for Kouga if she had to.

She walked up to the door and entered, no alarm going off. Stupid. She noticed a woman pass by headed for the bathroom in a white lab coat. Lucky for Naomi, she looked something like her. Naomi started following her being as inconspicuous as possible as she entered the bathroom. Once the woman was in the stall, she checked that they were the only two in there. No one. Naomi came around to one side of the door to the stall the woman went into and prepared herself. When she walked out of the stall she frowned, not recognizing Naomi, she said, "Oh, hello." Naomi slugged her, knocking her out. Taking off her jacket, she took the woman's glasses, jacket and id card and put them on, putting her guns on the inside pocket as she had done earlier. As she was headed for the door, she heard the wrist walkie-talkie she noticed she was wearing go off. "I need some backup in C17. Repeat, backup in room C17!" She ran out the door and to the map at the front door, knowing it was Kouga.

She located 'C17' on the map. Floor C, room 17. She grabbed the map and located the elevator. She pressed the button for a lower floor, and after she decided it was going too slow, pressed it a few more times. "C'mon, dammit!" she said as the doors slowly opened. She ran in and pressed the 'doors closed' button to speed things up and then the 'C' button. With a ding, the elevator started going down. Naomi pulled out the map and found and memorized the way to 17. Left, right, right, left, down that hallway, pass the double doors, second room on the left.

The doors started to open slowly and she squeezed through and she was in a hallway. She turned left out of the elevator and, nearly running into a man in a lab coat, turned right. "Hey!" he called, but she ignored him. She kept running. Right, left... In a long hallway now, she saw one guy running out of the doors she intended to enter. "Jennifer, thank god!" he called. He stopped her and looked into her eyes horrified. "The werewolf woke up!" The man shook her violently and pointed to the door.

"Alright, alright... Joe," she said, reading his name off his id card.

"Wait, you aren't Jennifer," he said after hearing her voice. Thinking quickly, Naomi pulled out one of the guns from the lab coat and put it to his head.

"Is there a combination or lock for the room?" she asked.

"K-Key pad c-c-combination," he stuttered.

"What is it?"

"16156201"

"You put it in. I don't trust you."

He turned and put his hands in the air and started walking towards the door. He punched in the number and the door opened. "Thanks," she said simply, and hit him hard in the head with the side of the gun, knocking him unconscious.

She ran in the door and immediately, she saw Kouga strapped to a table. She noticed the sharp objects for dissecting next to him, and a few stitches on different parts on his body, along with the lack of clothes. "Kouga!" she exclaimed with concern and ran to him, beginning to unhook the straps holding him down.

"Naomi?" he asked, still a little disoriented.

"Yeah. My, god are you okay?" she asked, finishing unhooking the upper body straps.

"Fine, but I told you to run away."

"I did that, but then I felt guilty leaving you to those two guys, and from the looks of it, I did a smart thing coming to find you." She finished with the straps and went back up and kissed him full in the mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I am so sorry," she said and hugged him tight.

"I'm just glad you're safe."

Naomi let go and let him sit up. He looked over his stitched body. They had cut into him everywhere. His arms, his chest, his stomach, his sides, his legs... the shards. He looked over and saw a small table that held knives and a bunch of other utensils, along with the two shards. He reached over and grabbed them and shoved them in his legs through the stitched up gashes. There was one good thing about going there though. The gash he got in his arm from the Bird of Paradise and the ones from the battle with Kagura had been stitched up along with the other holes.

"No. We shouldn't have come back here. It was a dumb idea. The mafia is after us, the military might be in a second here, I've found out _way_ too much from my mother... I probably could have gotten away with what we have back at the den for the cubs."

"If you really feel that bad, you can make it up to me later... say after the cubs are born, huh?" he got off the table and hugged her tightly. "I thank you, though."

"Why wait for three months? I can repay you tonight," she said smiling.

"We can't have intercourse while you're pregnant."

"Who said anything about intercourse?" She looked around the room for his clothes. They were in a pile behind the table. "Why don't you get dressed so we can get out of here, huh?" she offered, walking over to his clothes. She passed them to him and sat down on the table and waited for him to get them on.

"Kouga?" she started as he finished dressing

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to her.

"My mother... I... she... I'm sure you're fine with it, but can we never come back here again?"

"Sure, Naomi," he said, obvious concern to his tone. He walked over to her and she slid off the table. He wrapped his arms around her again and she hugged him tightly. He wanted to know what had happened so badly, but he also didn't want to see her crying again, so he just stood there.

"Code 18. Lock-in mechanism activated. All employees evacuate immediately," came a computer voice from the intercom as a red light started flashing and an alarm sounded. "Code 18. Lock in mechanism activated. All employees evacuate immediately. Code 18. Lock in mechanism activated. All employees evacuate immediately."

"Shit!" she exclaimed, looking up at him. "Kouga, we've gotta go. They know I'm here."

"Okay," he said and they ran out of the room and for the double doors. However, metal shutters closed over top of the two normal ones before they could reach them and they slid into them.

"Fuck!" Kouga exclaimed and pounded his fist on the door in irritation.

"Wait, look," she said, pointing to a lock beside the door. "We can open the door if we have a card key." She turned to the guy she slugged earlier. "He might have one," she said and ran back to him and quickly searched his coat.

"Find one?" Kouga asked, coming up behind her.

Naomi searched the guys pockets and she found his wallet. She opened it up and found a blue card marked 'Employee Key Card.' "Got it," she said, standing up. The two ran back to the door and she slid the key through the reader. "Please enter eight digit verification code now," a little computer voice said from a speaker beside the reader.

"Dammit!" she yelled, but then it hit her. "Oh wait a second..." she entered a number--16156201--and the door opened.

"How'd you know that?" he asked as they started down the hall.

"The guy gave me a pass code for the room you were in. I figured it was the same, and apparently it was."

As they neared the elevator, Naomi thought they were in the clear. They weren't going to get captured. However, as they were about ten feet away from it, about twenty-some-odd guards rounded the corner and started shooting.

"Shit!" Naomi yelled, narrowly dodging a bullet. They turned and ran to the nearest door. Slamming it behind her and Kouga, they noticed they had ironically found the stairwell. No one was coming up it either. Using her claw as a key, Naomi locked the door. "We have to go up. Three levels. And let's hope to god none of the guards come down.

They started up, Kouga following Naomi, but as they reached floor A and started going up the last flight of stairs, a group of guards came up, obviously from the floor she had attempted to lock off. "There, there!" Naomi screamed, pointing back to the door to floor A as the guards started shooting.

They had gone too far up the steps to dodge the hundreds of bullets flying at them. Luckily, though, the guards either had terrible aim, or didn't want to kill them so they could study them. Naomi was hit in the arm a couple of times, and Kouga in the side once. They made it to the door wounded, but alive. From there, Naomi recognized the layout of the floor was like floor C. The elevator was to the right, no one was coming, and they made a mad dash for the 'up' button.

Naomi pressed it once. It was going too slow. She hit it again and again, and then, the guards came out from the stairwell. "C'mon, dammit!" she yelled at the elevator doors, pressing the up button again. The doors opened and they rushed in. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck, and the world went black...

"Naomi..? Naomi?" Kouga shook her gently, trying to wake her. Her eyes slowly opened, coming to focus on Kouga's worried face.

"What's wrong?" she asked groggily.

"You passed out. Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"Fine... what hit me? I felt something hit my neck."

Kouga reached down on the ground beside him and picked up a dart.

"Tranquilizer," she said simply, looking at the dart.

"Are you sure you're okay? You've been out for about an hour now," he asked again.

"Fine. Those aren't supposed to hurt anything." Naomi sat up and she looked around. She didn't recognize where she was. "Kouga, where are we?"

"About five minutes into the woods away from the military place. I don't know the way back too the well."

"Oh. Then let's go," she said, standing up, but as soon as she did, she knew it was a dumb idea. She got dizzy and fell back in Kouga's lap. He caught her so she wouldn't fall back further. He laughed and kissed her gently. "Still in your system?" he asked jokingly and kissed her again.

She rubbed her right temple and agreed. "I guess so."

"Well, we need to get out of here either way. I heard someone snooping around here a little while ago." He stood up with her in his arms and gently set her n her feet. "Get on my back," he said turning from her. She jumped on and wrapped her arms around his neck, her head killing her now. Kouga held her by her thighs to keep her up and took off out of the woods, stopping behind a tree before the parking lot of the military. "Naomi, where do you go to get out of here?"

"The exit out of the lot is to the right. From there... you know what. I have a better idea, safer. Go to the third car from the end there. I'll drive."

"Uh, 'kay." Kouga went to the thing he assumed was her car and let her off. They went to either side and got in. Naomi turned the key and started the car. When Kouga finally understood what she was going to do, he took her hand off the wheel. "Naomi, I don't think you can do that..."

"Screw the tranquilizer. This would be the fastest and safest way back. Tinted windows. Unless they saw us get in, they don't know who's in the car." Kouga let her hand go and she put it back on the wheel. "Hang on," she said before flooring it. She pulled out of her place and drove around to the entrance. The gate had been put down so no one could exit, a camouflage colored jeep sat near it as well as ten or so guards, standing in front of the gate, all holding machine guns. She put on the breaks fast, coming to a stop. "Kouga..." she started, putting the seatbelt over her and fastening it tightly. "Put your seatbelt on and tighten it. Right there is the only way out."

"Naomi, you're not," he said, pulling on the belt.

"I have to... it's the only way out. After we get through there, that truck might follow us," she explained, passing him the two guns in the lab coat she had stolen. "I want you to shoot out the tires. Do you know how to use them?"

"Not really."

"See this right here?" she asked, pointing out the trigger. "Aim at the tires of the jeep and pull that. We don't want them following us if we can help it."

"Go," he said, holding the guns at ready to aim and fire.

"I'm going," she said, and floored the gas again. The guys at the gate started firing. Miraculously, the tires never got shot out, but the windshield busted and they both ducked, trying to avoid the glass. Naomi sat back up shortly after though, so she could se where she was going. "Stop!" she heard a lot of the men yell, but she ignored them. She continued on and the guys all moved out of the way as she burst through the gate.

"Ha! Beat that you little mother fuckers!" she yelled as she sped away from the base.

Naomi pulled into the driveway at home. They had gotten away fairly easily. Kouga shot out the tires of the jeep after seven shots, and after that they were home free. However, there was the little matter of her mother. She had no idea what she might have been able to pull in the time they were gone. The mafia could be all over the place.

The two got out of the car and Naomi noticed that there was a puddle of dried blood where she had shot her mother, but she wasn't there. She could have managed to get inside and call her lovers to come and kill them, though, there was no way to tell.

Kouga passed her the magnum and they started up the hill towards the well. As they figured, the two mafia guys, followed by one they hadn't seen before, stepped out from behind trees, guns aimed.

"Naomi. You've been a bad girl, you know that don't you?" James said.

"And bad girls must be punished..." Sykes said after.

"Bullshit," Kouga said before they both started shooting at the guys. They dodged behind the trees, avoiding the bullets. Kouga and Naomi made a run for it, leaping in the well before they could get shot.

"Go! The well!" James yelled. The three ran up to the well and peered down. "Dammit!" he yelled after realizing they were nowhere to be seen. "This is exactly what happened last time. Kate is going to have our heads!"

"No need to worry, boys," Kate, Naomi's mother said making her way up the hill on crutches. The three moved to her so she wouldn't have to go any further. "When they come back, we'll be ready for them. I've ordered something for you over the black market that you might like." She took out a blue liquid contained in three layers of reinforced glass and shook it, bringing all focus on it.

Congratulations! You've reached the end of Part One (or Book One as I called it earlier)! Yay! Wasn't that long? Oh, I'm so sorry if you don't like long fanfiction like that, but that's the way I write. So... Interested in things still to come?

Next Book: Kate's Final Revenge (In Production) - Everyone's 'favourite' mother is out for revenge on Kouga and wants to kill her own daughter. What little plan has she conjured to destroy them both?

Third Book: A New Beginning (Planning) - Naomi and Kouga finally make it back to the feudal era, ready to go about life as it did before... but something happened to them in the present that will make it impossible to live as they did before.

Sequel: Only After midnight - This one I absolutely can't tell you. Yes, I have written a lot of it already, but I'd really rather not spoil it. That won't be nearly as long as the first one was. I'm aiming for twenty or thirty pages, but I can't trust my over-active imagination to let me do that...

If I do manage to write anything after that, you can look me up in a mental institution. I slaved my summer away over this story. The next one may take longer because I've started school now. All I'm saying is, don't expect it any time soon. So sorry...

P.S. Please review. If I don't get many, I won't waist my time on a second one of these things... my e-mail address is up at the top.


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